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 Wahoo Lake (July 3-12, 1952) thrushes were seen every day along
willow-lined creeks. An adult female on July 11, was 191 mm long and
weighed 34 grams. A male from Chandler Lake on August 23, 1951, was
186 mm long and weighed 34 grams. It was caught in a mouse trap on an
alluvial outwash at the mouth of a canyon in a willow community in
which some willows were as high as nine feet. Fifteen tree sparrows,
two white-crowned sparrows, one northern shrike, two wheatears and a
few redpolls were noted there.
+Oenanthe oenanthe oenanthe+ (Linnaeus): Wheatear.--Specimens 2:
Mount Mary, S end Lake Peters 145 deg.10'02", 69 deg.20'30", 2920 ft., 1, No.
31322, juv. female, August 1, 1952; Chandler Lake, 152 deg.45', 68 deg.12',
2900 ft., 1, No. 30756, ad. male, August 12, 1951.
On the top of Mount Annette (July 17, 1952), which is the highest peak
in the valley and the center of several drainage systems, the insects
had collected in unusual numbers. There, an adult wheatear was feeding
insects to her young, which were three fourths the size of the parent.
From records kept of trap catches at Lake Peters (July 31-Aug. 15,
1952) the wheatears were always caught in those areas that supported
the greatest number of red-backed voles (_Clethrionomys rutilus_). On
August 10, among rocks at the base of moraines, the wheatear was the
second most common species. On August 15, after snow had fallen on the
mountain and in the valley and the skies there were cloudy, wheatears
moved onto the alluvium but always within at least 150 feet of
moraines to which the birds retreated when alarmed. An adult female,
shot on August 1, on the lower slopes of Mount Mary at the south end
of Lake Peters, was 158 mm long and weighed 26 grams.
At Chandler Lake (Aug. 9-25, 1951) the wheatear was characteristically
a bird of the rock fields and rockslides and in many places was the
only bird present. It did not inhabit the glaciated canyons leading
west from Chandler Lake, except at their mouths. From August 10-19,
wheatears decreased in numbers. On August 25 the two remaining birds
noted were among willows and rock ridges. Three adult males, shot on
August 14, averaged 24(23-26) grams in weight and their testes
averaged 1.2(1.0-1.5) mm long.
+Luscinia svecica svecica+ (Linnaeus): Bluethroat.--Specimens, 7:
Gavia Lake, 150 deg.00', 69 deg.35', 460 ft., 2, Nos. 31323 and 31328, males
August 22, 23, 1952; 9/10 mi. W and 9/10 mi. N Umiat, 152 deg.10'58",
69 deg.22'53", 380 ft., 1, No. 31324, ad. female, June 30, 1952;
Driftwood, Utukok River, 161 deg.12'10", 68 deg.53'47", 1200 ft., 3 (skins)
Nos. 31326 and 32620, ad. females and 31327, ad. male?, August 29,
1952, and 1, No. 31325, ad. female, August 28, 1952.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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