These lovely birds, the kittiwakes seen in The Western Isles - pure white with a grey mantle - have uniform black wing tips. t's legs are short and black. In flight the black wing-tips show no white, unlike other gulls. Its black feet have only three toes. The sexes look very similar. The young birds do however look somewhat different - one year old birds can look very dull and faded with wing patterns bleached and worn away and instead of black legs - these juveniles have brown legs. Some near adults have grey necks and black marks on the bill in spring.

41cm - Weight - 440g

Fish, Invertebrates, crustaceans, shrimps, worms.At sea - they dip down to the surface in flight - or make plunges of up to a metre or so down.

The name kittiwake actually comes somewhat from their call as when in breeding colonies, they seem to be uttering their name incessantly in an ear splitting manner, tye sounds rebounding off the cliffs.

These birds breed May - July, have 2 - 3 eggs, Incubation is 24 -28 days and the young fledge at 5-8weeks, they nest on narrow cliff edges. The nests are remarkable, being made of mud, seaweed and grass. the nests are well constructed and much more sturdy than other gulls nests. Perhaps this is because they are placed on very precipitous sea cliffs, often on tiny projections of rock which actually look very precarious. These nests of course are all the more safe from predators. The young birds stay on the ledge - they don't wander around at all. Having once left the nests, the kittiwakes venture right out to sea - sometimes hundreds of miles