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
On August 15, a Dall sheep (_Ovis dalli_) crossed the canyon from
Mount Mary to the mouth of Chamberlin Canyon. As the sheep reached the
east side of the canyon an eagle flew across the canyon and alighted
approximately 150 feet from the sheep. A large group of small birds
immediately harassed the eagle.
Two eagles fed on a dead caribou on a delta on the east side of Lake
Peters. Eagles were noted every day at Lake Peters from July 31 to
August 15 inclusive.
+Falco rusticolus obsoletus+ Gmelin: Gyrfalcon.--At the southwest
corner of Barrier Lake on July 29, 1951, a gyrfalcon sat on a bank 10
feet above the water level. A dead Arctic tern was on the beach only
90 feet away and visible to the gyrfalcon. When approached to within
250 feet, the gyrfalcon, rather than flying north over the lake and
lowlands, flew south across the upland tundra. On August 3, on the
edge of the upland tundra approximately 3-1/2 miles farther east a
gyrfalcon ate a Sabine's gull--a bird of the year. Its feathers had
been plucked and only the stomach and intestines remained. The
gyrfalcon left the feeding area when approached to within 450 feet
and, as did the other gyrfalcon, flew south over the upland tundra
rather than over the lowlands of inundated sedges. On July 4, one
gyrfalcon sat on a promontory at the south end of Barrier Lake. This
bird flew south.
At Umiat (Sept. 1-5, 1951) a gyrfalcon each day hunted the same areas
of marsh in the river valley where tundra voles (_Microtus oeconomus_)
were numerous and along the side of the valley where ground squirrels
were common. On several occasions, this bird hovered 30 feet up and
inspected us. This confidence was in contrast to that of the
gyrfalcons at Teshekpuk Lake; they evaded us by leaving the ground
several hundred feet away and flying out of sight.
Westley Redhead told us that a gyrfalcon was at Umiat as early as the
latter part of May, 1952. We saw them there on September 1 and 2 in
the same year. Gyrfalcons feed on ptarmigan in the river valley and on
ground squirrels and small birds on the uplands by striking their prey
on the ground. These falcons fly like prairie falcons and are of the
same nervous disposition.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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