Kittiwakes are coastal breeding birds ranging in the North Pacific, North Atlantic and Arctic oceans. They form large, dense, noisy colonies during the summer reproductive period, often sharing habitat with murres. They are the only gull species that are exclusively cliff-nesting. The Black-legged Kittiwake is one of the most numerous of seabirds. Its English name is related to its call, a shrill 'kittee-wa-aaake, kitte-wa-aaake'.