Description:

Medium sized gull, black-tipped wings and has slightly forked tail. Adult has white head in summer with grey hind neck, dark grey upperparts shading to whitish before black tip; yellowish bill and blackish legs. First year has dark 'W' pattern across wings and black tail-band.

Distribution:

Vagrant during passage migration to Gilgit-Baltistan, with a single record from Hunza. Usually make short stops around lakes, marshes, streams and rivers with nearby vegetation and grasslands. During passage from lowlands up to 3000m high.

Behavior:

Main fishing methods are surface-dipping with or without foot-pattering, and plunge-diving; also feeds on surface. Occasionally pirates food from terns, but is frequently itself a victim of piracy. Mainly feeds on marine invertebrates and fish. Outside breeding season also takes planktonic invertebrates, and exploits fishing vessels, and to take other offal in estuaries.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Black-legged Kittiwake in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Black-legged Kittiwake

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.