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
At Topagaruk the species was seen daily from July 4 through July 10,
1951. Six adults were nesting on July 5. They constituted less than
one per cent of the avian population inhabiting stabilized lakes of
medium size. On July 8, one nest held young. When we approached the
nesting grounds they flew 150 feet to meet us and then returned,
hovered, or flew directly over their nests. One nest was on an island
one foot in diameter; other islands inhabited were as large as one
square meter. The vegetation at the nest was bright green and lawnlike
because of trampling and fertilization of the grasses and sedges by
the birds. Correspondingly green, lawnlike areas of grass were noted
on the resting grounds of ducks and geese. The Sabine's gull and
Arctic tern are compatible and nest within 20 feet of each other. The
young freely circulate through each other's territory. The average
weight of three adult males (July 6-8) was 202(190-214) grams. The
average length of the testes of these birds was 10(8-14) mm. Four
adult females collected at the same place and time weighed
177(158-190) grams. The ovaries averaged 8 mm long and the largest
ovum was 2.8(2.0-4.5) mm in diameter.
At Kaolak River on July 17, 1951, one gull flew along the river but
did not seem to be nesting in the area. On July 20, 1951, 105 miles
southwest of Point Barrow, we observed Sabine's gulls, Arctic tern and
several pairs of loons on one lake. On a return trip from Kaolak to
Point Barrow by air (July 27, 1951) we found Sabine's gulls generally
distributed across the Coastal Plains. On an air trip from Point
Barrow to Teshekpuk Lake on July 29, 1951, we noted two Sabine's gulls,
one 9.7 miles southeast of Point Barrow and one 5.9 miles northwest of
the central western edge of Smith Bay.
Three miles east of our camp on Barrier Lake (Aug. 3, 1951) a Sabine's
gull had been eaten by a gyrfalcon. The gull was a bird of the year
with the downy feathers extending beyond the ends of seven primary
feathers. Three primary feathers were newly molted and of full length.
On an air flight (Aug. 4, 1951) from Teshekpuk Lake to Point Barrow we
saw two Sabine's gulls 63 miles southwest of Point Barrow and two at
23 miles southwest of Point Barrow. At Point Barrow (Aug. 26, 1952),
250 Sabine's gulls were resting or flying in the area. On September 6
at 7-1/2 miles south and 7 miles west of Point Barrow, Sabine's gulls
constituted 60 per cent of the larger birds that were flying and
feeding along the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic tern constituted 20 per
cent, the kittiwake 5 per cent and the glaucous gulls 15 per cent of
the population. An adult male shot here (Sept. 6) weighed 213 grams.
Between Birnirk and Point Barrow (Sept. 11, 1952) we counted 17
Sabine's gulls feeding and resting along the shore of Elson Lagoon.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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