Kittiwake adult and fledgling.

If you are curious about why these familiar birds are called kittiwakes, just listen to their noisy racket.  Black-legged kittiwakes named themselves by calling out, over and over, "kitti-wake! kitti-wake! kitti-wake!"

Kittiwake colonies are noisy and unmistakable.  These small members of the gull family (Laridae) are widely distributed throughout the Alaskan coast.  They cluster together in groups of hundreds to thousands to nest and raise young on islands, rocks, and cliffs.  Early in the summer kittiwakes can be seen flying overhead in streams as they gather grass and dry seaweed for their nests.  They pat mud and wet seaweed into these grasses with their webbed feet to make the nest more stable and secure.  After mating at that very site the female lays one to two pale speckled eggs. 

Kittiwakes nesting on Gull Island.

Soon the chicks hatch and both parents are busy keeping their fuzzy brood fed.   Adult kittiwakes can be seen feeding in relatively shallow, near shore waters in large groups called feeding flocks.  They capture schooling fish such as Pacific Sand lance and Pacific Herring by plunge diving- dropping from above the water surface to make a shallow dive (up to three feet deep).  The adults swallow these fish whole and return to the nest to regurgitate (barf) some to their chicks.

Kittiwake adult shelters its chick.