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 Kaolak (July 20-27, 1951) redpolls were associated with willows
along creeks that had cut channels 20 feet deep. In late July the
flowing water was six feet wide and from a few inches to three or four
feet deep. The first erosional bench supported grasses and sedges and
the slopes were covered with willows from a few inches to seven feet
high. These willows afforded nesting sites for redpolls. In a two-mile
stretch along this creek, which drained east into the Kaolak River
(July 21), there were approximately 200 redpolls, 100 Lapland
longspurs, 80 savannah sparrows, six willow ptarmigans, six pintail
ducks and several other smaller unidentified birds. On this same date
when I walked four miles on the open tundra, there were, of the
smaller birds, only six redpolls, 20 Lapland longspurs and 13 savannah
sparrows. In one interval of 1/3 of a mile, I did not see a single
individual of any of these three species. In the two miles of creek
bottom that I examined, there were several nests that had been used
that spring, several that had been used the year before, and one that
held four eggs containing embryos nine millimeters in length (no
feathers or bone development). Most of the nests were approximately
three feet above ground in willows near the creek. The nest of four
eggs was three feet above the ground, three feet from the edge of the
willows bordering the creek, and 10 feet from the creek proper. The
nest was 10 cm in diameter and 55 mm in height. The cup was 5 cm in
diameter at the upper rim, six cm in width and 35 mm in depth. The
outer base and side were constructed of dry willow sticks, twigs and
grass stems; the main body of the nest was fine grass stems, rootlets
and a few mosses. This lining was a layer 18 mm thick of white
feathers. The weight of this nest was 12 grams. The four eggs measured
19.2 x 12.9, 18.3 x 12.5, 18.3 x 12.8, 17.7 x 12.9. This nest of four
eggs was either a second nesting or an interrupted or exceptionally
late first nesting of redpoll on the Arctic Slope. Two abandoned nests
200 feet apart were in willows along the edge of an oxbow lake at
Gavia Lake (August 23, 1952).
On August 10, 1952, at the south end of Lake Peters, there was only a
slight increase in the number of redpolls over the previous week. At
Chandler Lake (Aug. 25, 1951) a few redpolls were among willows, this
was the first time in 15 days that we had noted these birds. One
redpoll was taken in a trap at Umiat on August 30, 1951.
The testes of six adult males (average 14(13-15) grams in body weight
and that were shot at several localities on the Arctic Slope from July
9 to July 28, 1951) averaged five mm in length.
+Spinus pinus pinus+ (Wilson): Pine siskin.--An adult male, which
weighed 12 grams, was caught in a trap at Chandler Lake on August 14,
1951. The testes were two mm long.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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