Cape St. Mary Black-legged Kittiwake

Black-legged Kittiwake
Ten thousand pairs of Black-legged Kittiwake nest on the narrow ledges of the cliffs at Cape St. Mary.

The Kittiwake builds a nest of grass and twigs and lays 1-2 eggs. They were named for their call which is a relatively high pitched 3 syllable phase that someone thought sounded like "Kit ti wake".

Notice in the photograph above, the photographer is looking down on the bird. There are not many places where you can do this.

Kittiwake Nests Line The Narrow Ledges.
In the picture below a flying Gannet approaches Bird Rock for a landing.Every ledge in the cliff in the background is lined with Kittiwake nests.

Close Neighbors The left bird has a chick in the nest and the bird to the right has two eggs.Notice how narrow the ledge on which the nests are built.