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
+Passerculus sandwichensis anthinus+ Bonaparte: Savannah
sparrow.--Specimens, 19: Kaolak, 160 deg.14'51", 69 deg.56'00", 178 ft., 12,
Nos. 30770-30781 including 3 ad. males, 3 juv. males, 4 ad. females, 1
juv. female and 1 ad. female (?), July 21-23, 25, 26, 1951; Gavia
Lake, 150 deg.00', 69 deg.35', 460 ft., 1, No. 31336, juv. male, August 22,
1952; Wahoo Lake, 146 deg.58', 69 deg.08', 2350 ft., 1, No. 31337, ad. male,
July 5, 1952; Porcupine Lake, 146 deg.29'50", 68 deg.51'57", 3140 ft., 1, No.
31339, ad. female, July 13, 1952; Driftwood, Utukok River, 161 deg.12'10",
68 deg.53'47", 1200 ft., 1 (skin) No. 31338, male and 1, No. 31335, ad.
female, August 29, 1952; Chandler Lake, 152 deg.45', 68 deg.12', 2900 ft., 2,
Nos. 30768-30769, 1 ad. male and 1 juv. male, August 10, 15, 1951.
Savannah sparrows were caught in traps in the following communities:
damp meadow of sedges, Chandler Lake, August 10, 1951; among sedges
bordering a lake, Wahoo Lake, July 5, 1952; damp to wet meadow of
sedges, grasses, and hummocks of cotton-grass, Porcupine Lake, July
14, 1952; along the edge of a deeply incised stream running through a
marsh, Porcupine Lake, July 16, 1952.
At Kaolak (July 21, 1951) on a windy day the greater number of
savannah sparrows were in protected valleys of willows along the
creeks and not on the open tundra where they are normally found. In a
two mile course along one creek there were 80 birds, whereas on the
open tundra there were, in four miles, only 13 birds.
Weights of 10 males and 10 females, shot in the period July 14-August
29, 1951, at several localities on the Arctic Slope were: male
20(17-24), female 18(16-20) grams. In an adult male, shot on July 22
at Kaolak, the testes were two mm long but in other males, shot in the
period July 14-August 29, the testes averaged 1.2 mm. The ovaries of
adult females for this same period also had receded to normal
non-breeding size. Juveniles on July 13 at Porcupine Lake averaged 20
grams in weight; the shortest was 125 mm in total length and the
largest 140 mm. Adults in this same period averaged 144 mm in total
length. Two adult males collected on July 22 and 24, 1951, at Kaolak,
were molting.
+Spizella arborea ochracea+ Brewster: Tree sparrow.--Specimens, 10:
Gavia Lake, N White Hills, 150 deg.00', 69 deg.35', 460 ft., 1, No. 31340,
juv. male, August 22, 1952; 9/10 mi. N and 9/10 mi. W Umiat,
152 deg.10'58", 69 deg.22'53", 380 ft., 1, No. 31347, ad. female, July 1,
1952; Umiat, 152 deg.09'30", 69 deg.22'08", 352 ft., 1, No. 31341, ad. male,
June 26, 1952; Wahoo Lake, 146 deg.58', 69 deg.08', 2350 ft., Nos.
31342-31343, ad. males, July 6, 8, 1952; Driftwood, Utukok River,
161 deg.12'10", 68 deg.53'47", 1200 ft., 2 (skins) Nos. 31345, ad. male,
August 29, 1952, and 31346, ad. female, August 28, 1952, and 1, No.
31344, ad. male, August 28, 1952; Chandler Lake, 152 deg.45', 68 deg.12', 2900
ft., 2, Nos. 30783, juv. male, 30784, a juv. of unknown sex, August
19, 1951.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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