Birds Found on the Arctic Slope of Northern AlaskaBee, James W.
Science
Birds Found on the Arctic Slope of Northern Alaska
Bee, James W.
Birds -- Alaska
+Buteo lagopus s. johannis+ (Gmelin): Rough-legged hawk.--On July 2,
1952, a nest of three young approximately six days old was examined 1/2
mile southeast of Umiat Mountain. The young were being fed small
mammals. Another nest containing three addled eggs was also examined
near Umiat. Many infertile and addled eggs of several kinds of birds
were noted on the Arctic Slope.
+Aquila chrysaetos canadensis+ (Linnaeus): Golden eagle.--Marvin
Mangus told us that he had seen young in nests at the following
localities: Kurupa River, 155 deg.11', 68 deg.38', on July 1, 1946; 10 miles
south of Driftwood in latter part of June, 1950; 11 miles NW from the
north end of Chandler Lake, 152 deg.56', 68 deg.25' on June 10, 1951; Awuna
River, 157 deg.03', 69 deg.12' July 4, 1952. Single adult birds were seen by
us at Gavia Lake (Aug. 21, 1952) and at Driftwood (Aug. 31, 1952).
Atanak and his companions from Wainwright saw 12 eagles while hunting
(July 16-18, 1951) from the junction of the Avalik and Ketik rivers to
a point seven miles up the Kaolak River, but no eagles were seen
between the junction of the above rivers and Wainwright.
Golden eagles daily hunted prey along ridges where Arctic ground
squirrels (_Spermophilus undulatus_) were abundant, for example, at
Wahoo Lake (July 3-12, 1952) and at Porcupine Lake (July 13-18, 1952).
This species of eagle hunted also in areas where marmots (_Marmota
caligata_) were abundant, as on the slopes adjoining Lake Peters.
There (August 6, 1952) three eagles soaring at 3800 feet elevation
south of the mouth of Chamberlin Canyon elicited from each of four
marmots three warning calls. Thereafter the marmots remained silent
until the eagles had left the area. One eagle that consistently hunted
(July 17, 1952) on the lower slope of Mount Annette along the Canning
River was three times harassed by two ravens.
At the south end of Lake Peters (July 31, 1952), a pair of adult
eagles soared along the slopes of Mount Mary approximately 1000 feet
above the lake. Twenty minutes later these birds flew by camp at the
base of the mountain. On August 2, at 8:00 P.M., two birds, one a
large dark adult and one a bird of the year (?) dropped with partly
closed wings from high on the east side of the lake to an undisturbed
meadow on the west side. After circling the meadow once, the two birds
spiralled upward to approximately 4500 feet elevation in one steep
canyon, leveled off and after gaining the head of the next canyon,
plummetted down to the base of the mountain some 1500 feet below. The
high-speed flight continued across the ridge to the mouth of the next
canyon where they circled twice and then soared upward to repeat the
act. The objective probably was to surprise and prey upon small game
at the mouths of each canyon. On August 13, the eagles were still in
the area at the south end of Lake Peters in spite of an abrupt
seasonal change; snow and rain increased and the temperature dropped.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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