Current view: Data table and detailed info
Taxonomic source(s)
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.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
full migrant |
Forest dependency |
does not normally occur in forest |
| Land-mass type |
shelf island
|
Average mass |
377 g |
Population justification: The Pribilof Islands account for >82% of the breeding population, with an estimated 235,624 breeding birds at St. George Island (per Goyert et al. 2017), 1,400 birds at St. Paul Island, and 172 at Otter Island (Thomson et al. 2014). The estimate for St. George is derived from a nest census conducted in 1995, while the estimates for St. Paul and Otter islands were taken from the most recent (2014) direct count of all attending birds conducted by the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The Commander Islands contain the only known Red-leggged Kittiwake colonies outside of the United States. These islands contain approximately 32,300 breeding birds (Vyatkin and Artyukhin 1994, del Hoyo et al. 1996, Artukhin 1999), which is approximately 14% of the breeding population. The colonies on Bering Island support by far the largest portion of the breeding birds of the Commander Islands, with an estimated 30,600 breeding birds in 1993 (Vyatkin and Artyukhin 1994). Recent counts for Bering Island and the other colonies in the Commander Islands group are not available. In the Aleutian Islands, Buldir Island (and its associated offshore rocks [Outer and Middle rocks]) is the largest colony with an estimated 8,605 breeding birds (per Goyert et al. 2017). Bogoslof Island and nearby Fire Island have a combined total of approximately 900 birds (Byrd et al. 2001). The remaining small colonies in the Aleutian Islands at Amak, Unalga, Koniuji and Chagulak islands contain fewer than 20 birds each (Byrd et al. 1997, 2004) and combined with Bogoslof Island account for <1% of the population. Overall, the population size in Alaska has been estimated at 247,300 breeding adults (Goyert et al. 2017), along with the population size of 32,300 in the Commander Islands, Russia. This gives a global population size estimate of 279,600 mature individuals, placed here in the range 100,000-499,999 mature individuals.
Trend justification: From the mid-1970s to mid-1990s, the known population declined by >40%. Most of this decline was on the Pribilof Island of St. George, where a precipitous (>50%) decline in breeding numbers occurred (Byrd and Williams 1993). The decline on St. George continued through the early 1990s, but subsequently has shown recovery (Byrd et al. 2008, Jason and Romano 2017). The small population on St. Paul Island declined by >80% from the mid-1970s through 2008 (Thomson et al. 2014), though since 2008, the population appears to have stabilised (M. Romano in litt. 2016). There is some evidence of a slight decline on the Commander Islands, but no counts are available prior to the late 1980s and it is unclear whether this was a trend or just interannual fluctuations (Byrd et al. 1997). No recent trend information is available for any of the Commander Islands. Of the remaining small colonies (all <5% of the population) the number of breeding birds at Buldir Island may have increased by as much as 55% between 1992 and 2014, and the number of breeding birds may have increased at Bogoslof Island in the mid-1990s (Byrd et al. 1997). Therefore, based on this evidence the decline over the past 3 generations (c.39 years) likely no longer meets the threshold for Vulnerable. Goyert et al. (2017), however, state that there have been recent declines in the species. With this uncertainty, the past and ongoing population reduction is very tentatively retained in the range 30-49% over 3 generations, though with further evidence of population trends, this precautionary assessment will require revision.
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Red-legged Kittiwake Rissa brevirostris. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/red-legged-kittiwake-rissa-brevirostris on 23/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/11/2024.
