Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla)
Ness, Shetland - May 2016
Kittiwake
The kittiwake is our most sea-loving gull, only turning up inland on odd occasions and spending winter out on the Atlantic. A medium-sized, elegant and gentle-looking gull, it nests in colonies on cliff tops and rock ledges from February until August - there are just under 380,000 pairs in Britain. It eats fish, shrimps and worms and does not scavenge at landfill sites like other gulls.