biology

Red-legged kittiwake

Red-legged kittiwake is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Red-legged kittiwake rather than just read about it. In short: The red-legged kittiwake (Rissa brevirostris) is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. It breeds in the Pribilof Islands, Bogoslof Island, and Buldir Island in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, and the Commander Islands, Russia, and spends the winter at sea.

Key takeaways

Red-legged kittiwake belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Red-legged kittiwake to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Red-legged kittiwake from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The red-legged kittiwake (Rissa brevirostris) is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. It breeds in the Pribilof Islands, Bogoslof Island, and Buldir Island in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, and the Commander Islands, Russia, and spends the winter at sea.

Description

The red-legged kittiwake is a very localised subarctic Pacific species. Apart from the distinguishing feature implicit in its name, it is very similar to its better-known relative, the black-legged kittiwake; other differences include the shorter bill, larger eyes, a larger, rounder head, and darker gray wings, and in the juveniles, which barely differ from the adults, lacking the black tail band and "W" across the wings of juvenile black-legged kittiwakes. Juveniles take three years to reach maturity. Adults are 35–39 cm (14–15 in) long, with an 84–92 cm (33–36 in) wingspan and a weight of 325–510 g (11.5–18.0 oz). Like the Pacific race of black-legged kittiwakes, the red-legged kittiwake has a well-developed hind toe. As occasional individual black-legged kittiwakes have reddish legs, any reports of red-legged away from the subarctic Pacific must record all of the other differences, not just the leg color, for acceptance by bird recording authorities.

Behavior The red-legged kittiwake feeds on fish such as lanternfish (Myctophidae), squid, and invertebrates. It spends the summer at the cliff breeding colonies, nesting on ledges, and migrates out to sea in September to overwinter in the northwestern Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Alaska.

Status This species is listed as "vulnerable" by the IUCN, as its population appears to be in decline. It has a global population in the region of 337,000 to 377,000 mature individuals and its breeding range is 192,000 km2 (74,000 sq mi). Its numbers are thought to have decreased by about 35% between the mid-1970s and the mid-1990s though numbers may have stabilized since. Why they have declined is unclear, but may be related to a change in the availability of prey, possibly associated excessive commercial fishing or climate change.

Gallery

References

Further reading Harrison, Peter (1988). Seabirds: An Identification Guide. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7470-1410-8 Malling Olsen, Klaus and Hans Larsson, Gulls of Europe, Asia and North America ISBN 0-7136-7087-8

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Red-legged kittiwake

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Red-legged kittiwake claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Red-legged kittiwake before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Red-legged kittiwake ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Red-legged kittiwake

In research: Red-legged kittiwake appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Red-legged kittiwake in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Red-legged kittiwake is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Birds described in 1853, Birds of Russia, Birds of the Aleutian Islands, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Red-legged kittiwake outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Red-legged kittiwake in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Red-legged kittiwake means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Red-legged kittiwake out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Red-legged kittiwake in simple terms?

Why does Red-legged kittiwake matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Red-legged kittiwake?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Red-legged kittiwake.