Data Zone
Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: #http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of _the_WP15.xls#.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
SACC. 2005 and updates. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: #http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm#.
| Critically Endangered | Endangered | Vulnerable |
|---|---|---|
| - | - | A2abd+3bd+4abd |
| Year | Category | Criteria |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Vulnerable | A2abd+3bd+4abd |
| 2017 | Vulnerable | A2abd+3bd+4abd |
| 2016 | Least Concern | |
| 2012 | Least Concern | |
| 2010 | Least Concern | |
| 2009 | Least Concern | |
| 2008 | Least Concern | |
| 2004 | Least Concern | |
| 2000 | Lower Risk/Least Concern | |
| 1994 | Lower Risk/Least Concern | |
| 1988 | Lower Risk/Least Concern |
| Migratory status | full migrant | Forest dependency | does not normally occur in forest |
| Land-mass type | Average mass | - |
| Estimate | Data quality | |
|---|---|---|
| Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) | 64,100,000 km2 | |
| Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding) | 153,000,000 km2 | |
| Severely fragmented? | no | - |
| Estimate | Data quality | Derivation | Year of estimate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population size | unknown | poor | estimated | 2009 |
| Population trend | decreasing | - | estimated | 1997-2036 |
| Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods) | 30-49% | - | - | - |
| Rate of change over the future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods) | 30-49% | - | - | - |
| Rate of change over the past & future 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods) | 30-49% | - | - | - |
| Generation length | 12.9 years | - | - | - |
Population justification: The global population is estimated to number c. 14,600,000-15,700,000 (Wetlands International 2016). The European population is estimated at 1,730,000-2,200,000 pairs, which equates to 3,460,000-4,410,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015).
Trend justification: Data collated from across Europe for the European Red List of Birds (BirdLife International 2015) indicate that the species has declined significantly in recent years, and that this decline is ongoing. A combination of official data reported by 27 EU Member States to the European Commission under Article 12 of the EU Birds Directive and comparable data from other European countries, provided by BirdLife Partners and other leading national ornithologists, suggests that the European population has declined markedly since the 1980s, and is currently estimated and projected to be declining overall at a rate of >40% over three generations (39 years). This corresponds well with the significant long-term decline reported by Berglund and Hentati-Sundberg (2014). Based on the latest population estimates (Coulson 2011, Wetlands International 2012), Europe (including Greenland) holds >50% of the global population. The small Canadian Arctic population is increasing by 1% per year (Mallory et al. 2009, Gaston et al. 2012), but as in Europe, the species’s breeding productivity in Alaska has declined since the 1980s, and numbers have decreased sharply in some colonies, possibly as a result of a regime shift in the North Pacific (Hatch 2013). At the regional scale of North America, which includes the populations breeding in the Northwestern Atlantic (c. 5% of the global population) and in the Northeastern Pacific (c. 15% of the global population), the species has recently been assessed as either stable or having undergone only a small decline (<15%) (North American Bird Conservation Initiative 2016). A recent analysis appears to show that the population in the North Pacific declined rapidly in the 1990s but has since recovered (Descamps et al. 2017). Global trends presented in the paper, however, appear to show that since 1975 the population size has declined by c.40%, which would place the global decline in the range of 30-49% over three generations (39 years).
| Country/Territory | Presence | Origin | Resident | Breeding visitor | Non-breeding visitor | Passage migrant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | extant | uncertain | ||||
| Algeria | extant | native | ||||
| Antigua and Barbuda | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Austria | extant | native | yes | |||
| Bahamas | extant | native | ||||
| Barbados | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Belarus | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Belgium | extant | native | ||||
| Belize | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Bulgaria | extant | vagrant | yes | |||
| Canada | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Cape Verde | extant | native | ||||
| Cayman Islands (to UK) | extant | vagrant | ||||
| China (mainland) | extant | native | ||||
| Côte d'Ivoire | extant | uncertain | ||||
| Croatia | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Cuba | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Cyprus | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Czechia | extant | vagrant | yes | |||
| Denmark | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Dominica | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Dominican Republic | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Egypt | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Estonia | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Faroe Islands (to Denmark) | extant | native | yes | |||
| France | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Gambia | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Germany | extant | native | yes | yes | ||
| Gibraltar (to UK) | extant | native | yes | |||
| Greece | extant | native | yes | |||
| Greenland (to Denmark) | extant | native | yes | |||
| Guadeloupe (to France) | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Guinea | extant | uncertain | ||||
| Guinea-Bissau | extant | uncertain | ||||
| Haiti | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Hungary | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Iceland | extant | native | yes | |||
| Iran, Islamic Republic of | extant | vagrant | yes | |||
| Ireland | extant | native | yes | |||
| Israel | extant | vagrant | yes | |||
| Italy | extant | native | yes | |||
| Jamaica | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Japan | extant | native | ||||
| Jordan | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Kazakhstan | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Kyrgyzstan | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Latvia | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Lebanon | extant | vagrant | yes | |||
| Liberia | extant | uncertain | ||||
| Lithuania | extant | native | yes | |||
| Luxembourg | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Malta | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Martinique (to France) | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Mauritania | extant | native | ||||
| Mexico | extant | native | ||||
| Monaco | extant | uncertain | ||||
| Mongolia | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Montenegro | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Montserrat (to UK) | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Morocco | extant | native | ||||
| Netherlands | extant | native | yes | |||
| North Korea | extant | native | ||||
| North Macedonia | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Norway | extant | native | yes | |||
| Oman | extant | vagrant | yes | |||
| Peru | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Poland | extant | native | yes | |||
| Portugal | extant | native | yes | |||
| Puerto Rico (to USA) | extant | vagrant | yes | |||
| Romania | extant | vagrant | yes | |||
| Russia | extant | native | yes | |||
| Russia (Asian) | extant | native | yes | |||
| Russia (Central Asian) | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Russia (European) | extant | native | yes | |||
| Senegal | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Serbia | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Sierra Leone | extant | uncertain | ||||
| Slovakia | extant | native | yes | |||
| Slovenia | extant | native | yes | |||
| South Africa | extant | vagrant | ||||
| South Korea | extant | native | ||||
| Spain | extant | native | yes | |||
| St Kitts and Nevis | extant | vagrant | ||||
| St Lucia | extant | vagrant | ||||
| St Pierre and Miquelon (to France) | extant | native | yes | |||
| St Vincent and the Grenadines | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (to Norway) | extant | native | yes | |||
| Sweden | extant | native | yes | |||
| Switzerland | extant | native | ||||
| Syria | extant | vagrant | yes | |||
| Trinidad and Tobago | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Tunisia | extant | native | ||||
| Türkiye | extant | native | yes | |||
| Turks and Caicos Islands (to UK) | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Ukraine | extant | vagrant | ||||
| United Arab Emirates | extant | vagrant | yes | |||
| United Kingdom | extant | native | yes | |||
| USA | extant | native | yes | |||
| Uzbekistan | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Virgin Islands (to UK) | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Virgin Islands (to USA) | extant | vagrant | ||||
| Western Sahara | extant | native |
| Habitat (level 1) | Habitat (level 2) | Importance | Occurrence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | Sea Cliffs and Rocky Offshore Islands | major | breeding |
| Marine Intertidal | Rocky Shoreline | marginal | breeding |
| Marine Intertidal | Sandy Shoreline and/or Beaches, Sand Bars, Spits, Etc | marginal | breeding |
| Marine Intertidal | Tidepools | marginal | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Macroalgal/Kelp | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Macroalgal/Kelp | suitable | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Pelagic | major | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Pelagic | major | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Seagrass (Submerged) | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Seagrass (Submerged) | suitable | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Loose Rock/pebble/gravel | suitable | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Rock and Rocky Reefs | suitable | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Sandy | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Sandy | suitable | non-breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Sandy-Mud | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Neritic | Subtidal Sandy-Mud | suitable | non-breeding |
| Marine Oceanic | Epipelagic (0-200m) | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Oceanic | Epipelagic (0-200m) | suitable | non-breeding |
| Marine Oceanic | Mesopelagic (200-1000m) | suitable | breeding |
| Marine Oceanic | Mesopelagic (200-1000m) | suitable | non-breeding |
| Altitude | Occasional altitudinal limits |
| Threat (level 1) | Threat (level 2) | Impact and Stresses | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biological resource use | Fishing & harvesting aquatic resources - Unintentional effects: (large scale) [harvest] | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Majority (50-90%) | Negligible declines | Low Impact: 5 | ||||||
|
|||||||||
| Climate change & severe weather | Habitat shifting & alteration | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Future | Majority (50-90%) | Rapid Declines | Low Impact: 5 | ||||||
|
|||||||||
| Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases | Viral/prion-induced diseases - Avian Influenza Virus (H5N1 subtype) | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Future | Minority (<50%) | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
|
|||||||||
| Pollution | Industrial & military effluents - Oil spills | Timing | Scope | Severity | Impact | ||||
| Ongoing | Majority (50-90%) | Slow, Significant Declines | Medium Impact: 6 | ||||||
|
|||||||||
| Purpose | Primary form used | Life stage used | Source | Scale | Level | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food - human | - | - | non-trivial | recent | ||
| Pets/display animals, horticulture | - | - | international | non-trivial | recent |
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Species factsheet: Rissa tridactyla. Downloaded from
http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/black-legged-kittiwake-rissa-tridactyla on 30/11/2023.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2023) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
http://datazone.birdlife.org on 30/11/2023.
