There is a smallish gull that spends the winter in considerable numbers east and south of Nantucket along the edges of the Continental shelf. Occasionally they occur in near-shore waters and they can even be abundant in winter in Nantucket Sound.
This pelagic ("ocean loving") gull is very long-winged and flies differently than its inshore congeners. It is quite at home on the storm-roiled waters of the North Atlantic in mid-winter, unlike so many other creatures, particularly anyone reading this.
This small bird is superbly adapted to life in this extremely harsh environment. Hurricane force winds and mountainous seas are a part of its daily life, no big deal. They seem completely at ease, coasting on stiff wings in a ferocious storm, mid-ocean in the middle of the winter. The only time they come to land is to breed, which is accomplished on remote offshore islands, nesting on steep cliffs.
The species common English name is black-legged kittiwake and this species inhabits both the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. They are one tough little bird, indeed. Kittiwakes are exceedingly graceful, exceptionally hardy and hard for anyone to forget who has encountered them. Check out the name of many an ocean going sailboat or yacht. It is a favorite name of many a deep-water vessel. It is the rare harbor at northern latitudes that does not have a boat named “Kittiwake” bobbing amongst the mooring field.
Occasionally, during the fall and particularly the winter months, kittiwakes can be found in the tamer, inshore waters around the Cape and Islands. They are attracted by an abundance of small fish, a favorite food. Just as terns help locate feeding schools of game fish for fisherman in the summer months, kittiwakes perform the same function for birders scanning the waters in winter for uncommon and rare birds.
Patrolling the waters, flying in their distinctive rather stiff winged manner, they often “point” out groups of feeding alcids. These alcids invariably turnout to be razorbills, a chunky, football-sized black and white alcid species that is at times common inshore in the winter. The problem for birders is that these birds, the alcids, in this and most cases, razorbills, are superbly adapted to life on and especially underwater.
When feeding they fly around under water like a small penguin and surface only fleetingly to breathe. It is only slightly easier than trying to spot bottom fish with a telescope. This is where the kittiwakes provide a double benefit. The first is that one gets to watch these graceful and beautifully marked small gulls. The second is that if there are feeding alcids underwater, these sharp-eyed gulls will find and stay with them.
The best time to see both these species is after periods of prolonged strong winds from an easterly direction. The longer and harder it blows, the greater the number of birds that will enter Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds. Best time and conditions of all are when a strong storm ends at night and dies out completely, leaving little wind at dawn. Get out to a headland and scan the ocean at first light. Often one can see hundreds of razorbills and dozens of kittiwakes under these circumstances.
The best times to find kittiwakes and the razorbills that they are looking for is early or late in the day. There is something about ocean loving birds and these times of day. They are certainly more active and noticeable and perhaps feel more secure venturing closer to land at these times. At any rate, it works and 55 years of field experience has confirmed it. Any trip during daylight hours on the ferry can yield a few of either of these species.
Next time you see a boat named “Kittiwake”, you will know what the name is referring to.
