kittiwake

kit·ti·wake

K0080700 (kĭt′ē-wāk′)n. Either of two gray gulls, Rissa tridactyla or R. brevirostris of northern oceans, that nest in colonies on sea cliffs.

[Perhaps imitative of its cry.]

kittiwake

(ˈkɪtɪˌweɪk) n (Animals) either of two oceanic gulls of the genus Rissa, esp R. tridactyla, having a white plumage with pale grey black-tipped wings and a square-cut tail. Also called: hacklet [C17: of imitative origin]

kit•ti•wake

(ˈkɪt iˌweɪk)

n. either of two small cliff-nesting gulls of the genus Rissa, of northern seas. [1655–65; imitative]

Thesaurus

Noun

kittiwake - small pearl-grey gull of northern regions; nests on cliffs and has a rudimentary hind toesea gull, seagull, gull - mostly white aquatic bird having long pointed wings and short legsgenus Rissa, Rissa - a genus of Laridae

Translations

kittiwake

kittiwake:

see gullgull,
common name for an aquatic bird of the family Laridae, which also includes the tern and the jaeger. It is found near all oceans and many inland waters. Gulls are larger and bulkier than terns, and their tails are squared rather than forked.
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Kittiwake

(Rissa tridactyla) also black-legged, or Atlantic, kittiwake, a bird of the family Laridae. The body length measures about 40 cm, and the weight about 400 g. The back and wings are bluish gray on top, and the flight feathers are black with white spots at the tips. The remaining plumage is white. The kittiwake is distributed in the northern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and in the Artie Ocean. It nests on coastal cliffs and on islands in colonies of up to several tens of thousands of couples. Together with murres, the kittiwakes form large breeding colonies.

The kittiwakes build their nests out of grass and mud on rock ledges. There are two or three eggs per clutch, and both the male and female incubate them for about 25 days. The plumage of the young grows in at about one month, at which time the young begin to fly. During the nonreproductive period kittiwakes travel widely over the open water, feeding on small fish and on invertebrates, which they snatch from the surface of the water. The red-legged kittiwake (R. brevirostris) nests on the Komandorskie and Aleutian islands.

kittiwake

either of two oceanic gulls of the genus Rissa, esp R. tridactyla, having a white plumage with pale grey black-tipped wings and a square-cut tail

kittiwake

kit·ti·wake

kittiwake

kit•ti•wake

kittiwake

kittiwake:

Kittiwake

kittiwake

kittiwake

Words related to kittiwake

noun small pearl-grey gull of northern regions

Related Words