In this second episode, we reflect on 2024 and explore the efforts of the Kittiwalkers and others in Tromsø to rescue kittiwakes from life-threatening situations.
Who are the Kittiwalkers?
The Kittiwalkers is a grassroot movement led by the nonprofit Rissa Citizen Science and run by volunteers who believe that coexisting with kittiwakes in Tromsø is possible. They act as citizen scientists, sentinels and whistleblowers. They collaborate with scientists, Tromsø kommune, architects and artists involved in the Urbanekrykkje project, all united by a shared goal: developing solutions for harmonious coexistence with kittiwakes in Tromsø.

The Tromsø Fire Brigade rescuing a kittiwake chick in Tromsø.
First and foremost, we want to express our gratitude to the Tromsø Fire Brigade. Each time someone called them for help, unless they were dealing with an emergency, they came as fast as they could. It happened at least twice this summer.
The first time was at Søndre Tollbodgate 7A. A Kittiwalker spotted a chick between anti-bird spikes in an awkward position. When the fireman picked the chick, a spike was going through its leg. Blood oozed from the small puncture wound. The leg had probably be punctured other times before, because the leg was curled and necrotized. There was nothing we could do to save this chick. It was brought to the vet and put out of its misery.
Spikes are ineffective deterrents for kittiwakes. If spikes are installed where a nest once existed, the kittiwake pair will likely return the following year and attempt to use the same spot, covered with spikes or not. While no one can argue against preventing kittiwakes from nesting on a building, more effective methods than spikes should be prioritized.

The Tromsø Fire Brigade is assessing the situation to rescue a chick on Tromsø Fylkeshuset.
The second time, one of the most dedicated Kittiwalkers spotted a chick stuck under a snow rack on the roof of Fylkeshuset. The chick appeared healthy, so the person called the Fire Brigade. Moments later, the fire truck arrived with its long crane, and a firefighter rescued the kittiwake from a slow and painful death.
The black-legged kittiwake: a highly endangered species
The black-legged kittiwake is highly endangered (EN) on Norway's Red List. They are facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. In 2014, scientists predicted that the median time to extinction of the Norwegian colonies of kittiwakes was 10 to 48 years (Sandvik et al. 2014). Kittiwakes don't eat our food, and they don't attack people to defend their nests. They seek refuge in Tromsø, and use human-made structures to build their nest.

A firefighter is rescuing a kittiwake on Tromsø Fylkeshuset's roof.
Back to their nest, if possible!
Unlike the four other species of seagulls found around Tromsø, kittiwakes stop feeding their chicks if they are not right inside their nest. If a chick falls and cannot fly, its death is inevitable. This happens in the wild too. In Svalbard for example, Arctic foxes are often seen patrolling the foot of bird cliffs, looking for these unliky chicks.
In Tromsø too, chicks fall off their nests. One could argue that it is natural. But because kittiwakes are in high danger of exctinction in Norway, we give these chicks a second chance. When a species is facing exctinction, every individual matters.

But putting back a chick in a nest is not enough to save its life. It cannot be any nest. It has to be its nest and no others, because adult kittiwakes usually don't adopt others' progeny. The problem is: how do we know which nest a chick found on the ground belongs to? This is where the nest monitoring done by the Kittiwalkers comes handy. When we know how many chicks there are in every nest (at least on the kittiwake hotels), if one chick is missing in one nest and the number of chicks in the other nests hasn't changed, the conclusion is obvious. And so, we just put the chick back where it came from. This is the best case scenario.
Unfortunately, we don't always know. For example, a chick might be missing in several nests. In that case, we have three options: 1/ to leave the distressed chick on the ground, knowing it will die, 2/ to euthanize it (we don't do that), or 3/ to take it, to feed and raise it, and release it when it is old enough to fly. In 2024, we raised every chick we found if we didn't which nest it belonged to. We will report about this in a next post.
And if you're wondering why kittiwake chicks sometimes fall off their nests, just look at the photo below. It can get quite crowded up there, and it doesn’t take much for a healthy chick to be pushed off.

A crowded nest on a kittiwake hotel in Tromsø.
Sponge chicks
Another source of natural mortality in chicks is drowning. This happens to chicks that have left their nests and know how to fly, but aren't quite mastering the art of swimming yet. If their plummage gets wet, they quickly become too heavy to take off. These wet chicks gradually become waterlogged, and paddle with their wings until they either drown or get picked by a predator. Since we don't have a boat or a kayak, rescuing these chicks is difficult for us, and we often find ourselves helplessly witnessing their suffering from the shore. If such a chick gets spotted by a Kittiwalker, if it comes close to the harbor's quay, if we happen to get hold of a long net and scoop it out of the sea, that chick earns the title of the luckiest kittiwake in the world.
This happened in one occasion. We left the chick in a box to dry for a few hours, and released it. You can watch the video here.
A waterlogged chick is drying its plumage before being released.
The Kittiwalkers will keep their eyes open, ready to spring into action. Next year, some chicks will fall their nests, and others will turn into sponge and we'll try our best to give these chicks a second chance.
However, removing spikes must be a priority in Tromsø, and Rissa is actively advocating for this. The Kittiwalkers identify and map spikes that pose a risk to kittiwakes, raise the issue with building owners, and work to persuade them to remove the spikes and replace them with more effective deterrents. If you wish to contribute, please get in touch. You can read about this here.
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