Black-legged Kittiwake

SCI Name:  Rissa tridactyla
Protonym:  Larus tridactylus Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.136
Taxonomy:  Charadriiformes / Laridae / Rissa
Taxonomy Code:  bklkit
Type Locality:  Northern Europe; restricted type locality. Great Britain.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Vulnerable

DEFINITIONS

RISSA
(Laridae; Ϯ Black-legged Kittiwake R. tridactyla) Specific name Larus rissa Brünnich, 1764 (= syn. Rissa tridactyla); "RISSA.  KITTIWAKE.   Generic Character.  Rostrum mediocre rectum, lateratim compressum, apice adunco; mandibula inferiore subtus angulata.  Nares lineares, rectæ, in medio rostri sitæ.  Cauda subfurcata.  Pedes teradactyli; pollex fere obliteratus exunguiculatus.   RISSA. Leach.  LARUS. Linn., Gmel., Lath.  GAVIA. Briss.   THE Kittiwake differs from the Xemes by reason of the absence of the hinder toe, and from the Gulls by the same character, added to the subfurcate tail.   There is but one species known, which prefers the inland lakes to the sea-coasts.    BRUNNICH'S KITTIWAKE. (Rissa Brunnichii.)   ...   Larus Rissa. Linn. Syst. Nat. 1. 224.  Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1. 594.  Kittiwake. Lath. Gen. Syn. 6. 393.  ...  Tarrock Gull. Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 533.  ...  Kittiwake Gull. Penn. Arct. Zool. 2. 456." (Stephens 1826); "Rissa Stephens, in Shaw's Gen. Zool., 13, pt. 1, 1826, p. 180. Type, by monotypy, Rissa brunnichii Stephens = Larus tridactylus Linné." (Peters 1934, II, 325).
Synon. Cheimonea, Gavia, Polocandora.

rissa
Icelandic name Rita for the Black-legged Kittiwake < Old Norse Ryta; “By the Icelanders it is called Ritsa” (Latham 1785) (syn. Rissa tridactyla).

tridactyla
Gr. τριδακτυλος tridaktulos  three-toed  < τρι- tri- three-  < τρεις treis, τρια tria  three; δακτυλος daktulos  toe.
● ex “Jacamaralcion” of Levaillant 1807 (Jacamaralcyon).
● "69. LARUS.  ...  tridactylus.  1. L. albicans dorso canescente, rectricibus excepto extimo nigris, pedibus tridactylis.  Larus hybernus. Alb. av. 2. p: 80. t. 87.  Larus cinereus. Bell. av. . .  Raj. av. 128. n. 4.  Habitat in Europa septentrionali." (Linnaeus 1758) (Rissa).

SUBSPECIES

Black-legged Kittiwake (tridactyla)
SCI Name: Rissa tridactyla tridactyla
tridactyla
Gr. τριδακτυλος tridaktulos  three-toed  < τρι- tri- three-  < τρεις treis, τρια tria  three; δακτυλος daktulos  toe.
● ex “Jacamaralcion” of Levaillant 1807 (Jacamaralcyon).
● "69. LARUS.  ...  tridactylus.  1. L. albicans dorso canescente, rectricibus excepto extimo nigris, pedibus tridactylis.  Larus hybernus. Alb. av. 2. p: 80. t. 87.  Larus cinereus. Bell. av. . .  Raj. av. 128. n. 4.  Habitat in Europa septentrionali." (Linnaeus 1758) (Rissa).

Black-legged Kittiwake (pollicaris)
SCI Name: Rissa tridactyla pollicaris
pollicaris
L. pollicaris  of the thumb  < pollex, pollicis  thumb; alluding to the diminutive, usually claw-less, hind-toe of the Black-legged Kittiwake (subsp. Rissa tridactyla).