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kittiwake (KIT-ee-waik) - n., either of two species of small seagulls of the genus Rissa that nest on cliffs and winter on the ocean.
Those being the black-legged kittiwake (R. tridactyla) of all Arctic oceans and the red-legged kittiwake (R. brevirostris) of the Bering Sea. Both have white plumage, pearl-grey black-tipped wings, and a square-cut tail. Name is onomatopoetic from its call: a shrill "kittee-wa-aaake, kitte-wa-aaake," as Wikipedia renders it.
---L.
Those being the black-legged kittiwake (R. tridactyla) of all Arctic oceans and the red-legged kittiwake (R. brevirostris) of the Bering Sea. Both have white plumage, pearl-grey black-tipped wings, and a square-cut tail. Name is onomatopoetic from its call: a shrill "kittee-wa-aaake, kitte-wa-aaake," as Wikipedia renders it.
---L.
