The Tyne Kittiwakes

The world's furthest inland colony of nesting kittiwakes

On a city break, most visitors take in the local sights and seabirds don’t normally figure on their list of things to see.

Unless you visit Newcastle, where in recent decades kittiwakes have become part of the urban landscape, giving the chance to watch these fascinating birds without travelling to more remote coastal sites.

Kittiwakes nesting in their typical coastal habitat, seen here at the RSPB Bempton Cliffs nature reserve in Yorkshire

Kittiwakes are part of the gull family but with a more delicate appearance, with a head of almost pure white and a white body and light grey upper wings. Other distinguishing features include black tips to the wings, yellow beaks and, in juvenile birds, a W-shaped black marking on the upper wings. As with other onomatopoeic names such as cuckoo and chiffchaff, their name has been inspired by their ‘kittee-waaake’ call.

In flight, they glide effortlessly on the slightest breeze and like most seabirds spend much of their lives at sea, roaming the Atlantic as far as Greenland and the Arctic Circle. The black legged variety is most common in Europe and is also found in North America along with its red-legged cousin. Unlike gulls they feed entirely at sea, snatching schooling fish from just below the surface such as herrings, sprat and their favoured prey of sandeels.

Nobody is quite sure why but in the 1960s kittiwakes started to nest in the city, swapping the ledges and outcrops of sea cliffs for urban features such as bridge girders, windowsills, abutments and even the top of lamp posts. As at the coast they build their nests of seaweed, mud and grass on seemingly the most narrow and precarious of sites.

The Tyne Bridge and the Glasshouse (Sage) concert hall, home of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, with the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art and the Millenium Bridge in the distance

If you don’t know Newcastle, it’s a vibrant city in northeast England on the banks of the River Tyne, facing the town of Gateshead on the opposite shores. The girders and abutments of the iconic Tyne Bridge are a favoured nesting spot and mark the furthest breeding site inland, several miles from the coast.

Kittiwakes nesting on the Tyne Bridge, 19 April 2024

Tall enough to allow ships to pass, the bridge is a reminder of the Tyne’s shipbuilding past as is the Baltic Flour Mill, an impressive six story building nearby, now a beautiful art gallery - the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.

Here, a viewing terrace on the fourth floor provides great views of both the city and kittiwakes clinging to ledges and windowsills on its river-facing side - like discerning apartment buyers most prefer a waterside view.

Kittiwakes seen from the viewing platform at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, 19 April 2024

There can be few other places where you can approach so close to nesting seabirds and on a visit to Newcastle last week it was an essential port of call. Quite a few birds had already arrived with some already paired up with their partners from last year and others putting on a display to try to attract a new mate.

Occasionally, birds would plunge off the ledges to gain airspeed before climbing to soar out over the Tyne, with this seeming exuberance probably a hunt for nesting materials. However, GPS tracking studies have shown that rather than fishing in the Tyne they normally fly out to sea, with some making the hundred mile or so round trip to the Farne Islands further up the coast.

This year the birds started to return in early April to start their courtship rituals and the eggs once laid will take about a month to hatch. Chicks then take another 5-7 weeks to fledge and the birds return to sea in August or September.

A windowsill nest at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, 19 April 2024

Like many seabirds, kittiwakes face many threats, including avian flu, overfishing and changes in food availability due to climate change. Both black-legged and red-legged kittiwakes are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) Red List of Threatened Species.

Organisations helping to raise awareness and help with their welfare include Kittiwakes upon the Tyne, Durham Wildlife Trust and the RSPB. And if you’d like a unique view of the birds and - in a couple of months - their chicks, you can watch Durham Wildlife Trust’s Kittiwake Cam (link below).

23 June 2024 update

About eight weeks later eggs are being incubated and many chicks have already hatched. Here are a few more images from the viewing terrace at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art:

Further reading

From the author

Spectacular Britain, Kevin Sene, Bloomsbury, 2024. A chapter called ‘Seabird cities’ gives insights into seabird behaviour including gannets, puffins and kittiwakes and tips on visiting some of the best seabird cities around the UK’s coastline.

General

Kittiwakes upon the Tyne

An organisation ‘Helping to protect and raise awareness for the Kittiwakes along the River Tyne, including the Quaysides of Newcastle and Gateshead.’

https://www.tynekittiwakes.org.uk/

Durham Wildlife Trust

Kittiwake Cam: https://www.durhamwt.com/kittiwake-cam

Link for donations to help conserve wildlife: https://www.durhamwt.com/donate

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

See the centre’s website for information on the viewing terrace, Kittiwake Tours, ongoing art exhibitions and more:

Website: https://baltic.art/

‘The Waiting Gardens of the North’ installation by Michael Rakowitz was fascinating and thought-provoking to explore.