STATUS OF MARINE BIRD POPULATIONS

[Distribution and Status of Marine Birds Breeding Along the Coasts of the Chukchi and Bering Seas]

James C. Bartonek [2]

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Fairbanks, Alaska

and

Spencer G. Sealy

University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Abstract

The Alaska coast fronting on the Chukchi and Bering seas, exclusive of the Aleutian Islands, supports seven complexes of marine bird colonies numbering more than 1 million birds each, nine colonies of 100,000 to almost 1 million birds, and many smaller colonies. Colonies are found on most headlands and islands and are dominated numerically by alcids and kittiwakes (Rissa sp.). Estuarine habitats (mainly the lowlands of northern Seward Peninsula, Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, and the north side of the Alaska Peninsula) are extremely important for breeding and migrating marine waterfowl, shorebirds, gulls (Larus sp.), and terns (Sterna sp.). Information on population size and distribution of breeding marine birds within this area is extensive for only a few of the more heavily hunted species of waterfowl. Except for the intensive and systematic censusing of a few colonies in this region, population data on cliff-, burrow-, and crevice-nesting birds are such that all but gross changes in numbers may go unnoticed, and if noticed they could not be measured.

Habitats for breeding marine birds are found along much of the 4,100-km coastline of Alaska that fronts on the Chukchi and Bering seas. Seasonal sea ice and an extensive outer continental shelf are dominant features that contribute to the productivity of these marine waters, which sustain populations of fishes, birds, and mammals that are of considerable and diverse values to man (Kelley and Hood 1974).

Our purpose in this paper is to describe the distribution, abundance, and relative status of some of the nearly 100 species of marine birds breeding within this region and the information base from which the descriptions are derived. Although the selection is admittedly arbitrary, we discuss mainly the colonial nesting species because they are generally in greater jeopardy from lost breeding habitat and from catastrophes than are the species that are widely dispersed or solitary in nesting. Because we believe matters affecting the conservation of marine birds will be geographically oriented, we discuss the status and distribution of breeding birds on that basis, rather than by the more traditional taxonomic approach. We use the terms "colony" and "colonies" somewhat loosely and interchangeably to include any aggregation of birds of the same or different species nesting in proximity to each other, even those on the same island or headland, although populations may be miles apart and occupy different kinds of habitats. The nature of this paper and the scale of our maps do not allow for detailed resolution of each colony's location (for the most part this information is not available), but rather facilitates a general impression of status.

Most place-names used by us are shown in Fig. 1; the others may be located by referring to Orth's (1967) gazetteer on Alaska.

Information Base

There is no adequate catalog of marine bird colonies and other avian habitats for the Bering-Chukchi region or for Alaska as a whole. King and Lensink (1971) described the waterfowl populations and major lowland habitats of the State and listed only a few of the many colonies of cliff-nesting birds. LeResche and Hinman (1973) identified a few additional colonies, provided fragmentary information on composition and abundance at some of these sites, and delineated areas of wetland habitats on maps in their statewide atlas on wildlife. General and occasionally site-specific information on the location, but rarely on population size and composition, of colonies can be gleaned from the 321 species accounts presented by Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959) and from the general works by Bent (1919, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1927, 1929), Dement'ev and Gladkov (1951), Dement'ev et al. (1951, 1952), Palmer (1962), Fisher (1952), Tuck (1960), and others. The birds on the Asiatic side of these waters, which are not treated in this paper, were described by Portenko (1973).

Information on the status of waterfowl in the region is generally more detailed than that for most other groups of birds because waterfowl have been the object of systematic surveys since the late 1940's as part of the continent-wide effort to manage populations for sport hunting. Because the emphasis of these surveys has been directed toward the species of ducks important to hunters in the "lower 48" States, data are not adequate to measure changes in populations for most sea ducks and marine geese nesting in this region. These surveys have, however, enabled biologists to delineate waterfowl habitats and make reasonable estimates of populations for some of the more abundant and conspicuous species (King and Lensink 1971; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [FWS] 1973c; U.S. National Park Service [NPS] 1973).

Chukchi Sea Coast

A disproportionate percentage of ornithological investigations in arctic Alaska have centered about Barrow, where ornithologists were attracted because of the propensity of vagrant birds to collect there and because of the above average facilities, conveniences, and transportation afforded first by the whaling station, then by the military, and later by a research laboratory. Recent petroleum development near Prudhoe Bay has resulted in a somewhat commensal eastward shift in ornithological studies.

Bailey (1948), Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959), and Pitelka (1974) reviewed much of the published information on arctic avifauna, including that of the Chukchi coast. Selkregg [1975] mapped various avian habitats, ascribed either relative or absolute values for the population size of certain groups of birds, and included a selected bibliography that did not entirely duplicate those provided by the other reviewers. Watson and Divoky (1975) described the avifauna of Alaska's Beaufort Sea coast, which is much the same as that of the Chukchi coast from Point Barrow south to Cape Lisburne (both coasts are of low relief).

Intensive studies near Barrow have done much to characterize the behavior, productivity, and ecological requirements of calidridine sandpipers (Pitelka 1959; Pitelka et al. 1974; Holmes 1970, 1971) and, to partly explain the cyclical relationships between jaegers (Stercorarius spp.) and their prey (e.g., Pitelka et al. 1955; Maher 1974). Quantitative estimates of certain bird populations at Cape Thompson (Swartz 1966; Williamson et al. 1966), Little Diomede (Kenyon and Brooks 1960), and on the coastal lowlands of the Seward Peninsula (King and Lensink 1971; U.S. NPS 1973), and for black guillemots (Cepphus grylle) throughout the region (Divoky et al. 1974) are among the best data on status of marine birds for any locality in Alaska. Grinnell (1900a) described the birds he observed in the Kotzebue Sound area.

Fig. 1. Place-names in the region of the Chukchi and Bering seas.

Cursory aerial surveys conducted by J. C. Bartonek, J. G. King, and D. R. Cline (U.S. FWS 1973a; U.S. NPS 1973; this paper) in 1972 and 1973 provided information on the location and relative size of most, if not all, colonies of cliff-nesting marine birds between Point Barrow and the Bering Strait, including those at Cape Lisburne, at Motherhood Point, Nine-mile Point, Cape Deceit, Towalevic Point, Sullivan Bluff, all on the northern base of the Seward Peninsula, and at Fairway Rock. The relative size of populations of most species was probably underestimated because the burrow-and crevice-nesting species were largely unseen.

Bering Sea

Aside from work by Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959) and the early but understandably incomplete accounts by Nelson (1883, 1887) and Turner (1886), no comprehensive description of the avifauna of the Alaskan coast of the Bering Sea exists. Many studies adequately describe local avifauna, and some of them are exemplary assessments of the status of populations.

Most of the coastline suitable for cliff-nesting marine birds and most of the smaller nearshore islands from the Bering Strait south to the tip of the Alaska Peninsula were reconnoitered piecemeal from aircraft between 1970 and 1973 by J. C. Bartonek, J. G. King, D. R. Cline, C. D. Evans, and M. L. Plenert (U.S. FWS 1973a, 1973b; this paper). In late June 1973 Bartonek, Cline, and Plenert made brief reconnaissances on foot of King, Besboro, and Shaiak islands. Bartonek and J. G. Divoky, traveling by boat and occasionally on foot, reconnoitered colonies at Cape Seniavin, a portion of the Walrus Islands group, Shaiak Island, and the coastline from Cape Peirce around Cape Newenham to Security Cove (U.S. FWS 1973a, 1973b; this paper). Although these cursory surveys (especially those from aircraft) tended to identify nesting sites of cliff-nesting birds while missing sites used by burrow-and crevice-nesting species, information was obtained on the location and relative size of many previously unreported colonies.

The mainland and island colonies in Norton Sound have received little notice in the published literature. Bailey (1943, 1948), although working mainly at Little Diomede and in Arctic and Lopp lagoons on the north side of the Seward Peninsula, mentioned the birds at Wales Mountain and Tin City. Nelson (1883, 1887) traveled throughout the region studying the avifauna and the anthropology of Eskimos. Grinnell (1900b) at Nome, McGregor (1902) along the Koyuk River, Hersey (1917) and Turner (1886) near St. Michael, and Cade (1952) at Sledge Island provide fragmentary examples of the area's marine bird populations. Colonies at King, Besboro, Egg, and Sledge islands, near York Mountains, and at Bluff were described in proposals for new National Wildlife Refuges (U.S. FWS 1973a).

Sealy et al. (1971) reviewed the literature and discussed the various zoogeographic relationships among the avifauna of St. Lawrence Island. Fay and Cade (1959) estimated numbers and biomass of all birds on St. Lawrence Island but did not identify locations and sizes of particular populations; consequently, replication of their estimates is precluded. An exemplary study by Bédard (1969) identified the locations and sizes of all populations of crested auklets (Aethia cristatella), least auklets (A. pusilla), and parakeet auklets (Cyclorrhynchus psittacula) on the island. Sealy (1973) identified breeding sites of horned puffins (Fratercula corniculata) there and throughout the species' range. Thompson (1967) listed the birds observed at Northeast Cape and on nearby Punuk Islands.

Annotated accounts have been published on the breeding avifauna of St. Matthew, Hall, and Pinnacle islands by Elliott (1882), Hanna (1917), Bent (1919), and Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959). Klein (1959) presented quantitative data on the birds he observed incidental to his study of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus).

The avifauna of the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, which is rich both in numbers and diversity, has been treated extensively in the literature. Nelson (1883, 1887), Turner (1886), Conover (1926), Brandt (1943), Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959), Williamson (1957), Kessel et al. (1964), Harris (1966), Dau (1972), and Holmes and Black (1973) all described the avifauna in the same general area of the delta, i.e., the eroding portion in the general vicinity of Hooper and Hazen bays. The avifauna of the aggrading portion of the Yukon delta and of the Kuskokwim's mouth have not been accorded similar attention. Populations of waterfowl nesting on the delta and their wintering affinities were described by King and Lensink (1971) and U.S. FWS (1973c).

Studies of particular species of marine birds on the delta (again, all in the general vicinity of Hooper and Hazen bays) were reported by Hansen and Nelson (1957) and Shepherd (1960) for black brant (Branta bernicla), by Headley (1967) and Eisenhauer and Kirkpatrick (1977) for emperor geese (Anser canagica), by Dau (1974) and Mickelson (1975) for spectacled eiders (Somateria fischeri), by Petersen (1976) for red-throated loons (Gavia stellata), and by Holmes (1970, 1971, 1972) for dunlins (Calidris alpina) and western sandpipers (C. mauri).

Birds of Nunivak Island were reported by Swarth (1934), but the importance of the island to marine birds was not put into proper perspective until the Nunivak National Wildlife Refuge was evaluated for designation as a wilderness area (U.S. FWS 1972).

The Pribilof Islands have served as a focal point for ornithological investigations of the Bering Sea in much the same way that Barrow has for the Arctic. The avifauna of the Pribilofs has been described by Coues (1874), Elliott (1882), Palmer (1899), Hanna (1918), Preble and McAtee (1923), Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959), Kenyon and Phillips (1965), and a host of others that mainly added new species to the record list. Although most of these ornithologists marveled at the numbers of birds, information is lacking from which most changes in populations can be noted. (An exception is the record of common and thick-billed murres, Uria aalge and U. lomvia, which formerly nested in such abundance on Walrus Island that annually several tons of eggs were gathered for consumption by residents of the islands [Palmer 1899], but were greatly reduced in numbers by the summer of 1973, when J. C. Bartonek, J. G. King, G. J. Divoky, and D. T. Montgomery observed only a few thousand murres on a small portion of the island. Most of the suitable nesting sites, especially the flat areas often used by common murres, were occupied by Steller's sea lions, Eumetopias jubata, which, apparently because of reduced hunting pressure, occupied the island and displaced the murres.)

For some unexplained reason the numerous and large marine bird colonies along the north side of Bristol Bay appear to have been largely overlooked until recent years (Bartonek and Gibson 1972). Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959) summarized the few observations by Osgood (1904) and Turner (1886) in this area, but obviously were unaware that, in aggregate, these colonies rival those of the Pribilofs. Dick and Dick (1971) made an exemplary study of marine birds and their numbers at Cape Peirce and on nearby Shaiak Island. Murie (1959) provided annotated remarks on marine birds of Amak Island, but not of nearby Sealion Rocks.

Status and Distribution

Seven groups of colonies of cliff-, burrow-, and crevice-nesting birds are found on the headlands and islands in the coastal region, each numbering more than 1 million birds; nine colonies range downward to 100,000 birds; and a host of others range downward to 1,000 birds (Fig. 2). Un-estimated numbers of other marine birds nest on the lowlands about Kotzebue Sound, the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta, and Bristol Bay, but are not shown in Fig. 2. The occurrence at colonies of 20 of the nearly 100 species of marine birds is shown in Fig. 3; their relative numbers at these sites are not shown because data are generally lacking.

Fig. 2. Relative numbers of marine birds at colonies in different localities, without regard to species composition or breeding status.

Fig. 3. Location of known breeding populations of some marine bird species without regard to size of population.

Chukchi Sea

The largest colonies of seabirds in the Chukchi Sea are those on Little Diomede Island, Cape Lisburne, Cape Thompson, and Fairway Rock. Smaller colonies are in Kotzebue Sound along the northern base of the Seward Peninsula. These colonies are largely dominated by thick-billed and common murres and black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla) and on the islands in the Bering Strait also the crested, least, and parakeet auklets. Horned puffins, tufted puffins (Lunda cirrhata), pelagic cormorants (Phalacrocorax pelagicus), and glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) make up the remaining majority. For the whole area there are probably fewer than a hundred birds each of black guillemots and pigeon guillemots (Cepphus columba) occupying colonies. Dovekies (Alle alle) are occasionally sighted in this area, but only as stragglers from their normal range.

Part of the mystery surrounding the nesting location of Kittlitz's murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris) was solved when Thompson et al. (1966) discovered a downy chick in the Kukpuk River drainage nearly 45 km by river from salt water. Other nesting sites of the Kittlitz's murrelets in this region were reported for Wales Mountain (Ford 1936; Bailey 1943, 1948) and the Cold Bay area (Bailey 1973) (Fig. 3).

Only the colonies at Cape Thompson have been censused systematically throughout a breeding season. During one of three years of varying census efforts, Swartz (1966) estimated that about 400,000 birds of nine species occupied the cliffs. Whereas the Cape Thompson colonies received considerable attention because of Swartz's efforts, the colonies that extend along nearly 35 km of headlands southward from, but mainly at, Cape Lisburne have received little if any attention by either early or recent ornithologists in the Arctic, even though they support perhaps twice the number of birds. Also perplexing is why Chamisso and Puffin islands with their several thousand nesting horned puffins and lesser numbers of other seabirds were designated as the Chamisso National Wildlife Refuge in the early 1900's when none of the many larger and more species-diverse colonies in the area received comparable recognition by and protection through refuge designation.

The lowlands on the north side of the Seward Peninsula produce fall flights of sea ducks that average 49,200 oldsquaws (Clangula hyemalis), 51,000 eiders (mostly common eiders, Somateria mollissima), and 26,700 scoters (mostly black scoters, Melanitta nigra) (King and Lensink 1971). Small populations of black brant and emperor geese breed in what outwardly appears to be excellent habitat, and King and Lensink (1971) speculated that subsistence hunting by local Eskimos is responsible for suppressing these populations.

Bering Sea

The largest concentration of nesting seabirds in the Bering Sea and perhaps in the entire North Pacific is that on St. George Island. Colonies that rank somewhere below that at St. George are along the coast from Cape Newenham to Cape Peirce, in the Walrus Islands (Round, High, Crooked, and Summit islands, The Twins, and Black Rock), at Cape Mohican on Nunivak Island, St. Matthew Island, Southwest Cape of St. Lawrence Island, and King Island.

The Pribilofs have the unique distinction of being the primary nesting site of red-legged kittiwakes (Rissa brevirostris). They are also interesting from the zoogeographic standpoint in that they are the northernmost stronghold of red-faced cormorants (Phalacrocorax urile); guillemots are conspicuous by their absence, and larid gulls are conspicuously scarce nesters.

St. Matthew Island and associated Hall and Pinnacle islands, and all but Walrus Island of the Pribilofs, are sites of nesting northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis). Nesting fork-tailed or Leach's storm-petrels (Oceanodroma furcata and O. leucorhoa) have been found nowhere in this region, although both are commonly observed at sea and both nest throughout the Aleutians.

Most colony sites identified in Fig. 2 are dominated by common or thick-billed murres (or both) and black-legged kittiwakes. Glaucous gulls (generally north of the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta), glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens) (generally to the south of the delta), and pelagic cormorants occupy almost every rocky prominence along the entire coast (most of these sites are not shown in Figs. 2 and 3). Double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) nest at a few island and inland locations in the Bristol Bay area. The small auklets are largely restricted to islands in the Bering Sea; the parakeet auklet is the only one occasionally found in mainland colonies.

The marine birds of the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta lowlands, although largely uncounted, in their aggregate probably exceed the numbers at any individual site identified in Fig. 2. This is not particularly surprising since the delta has nearly 70,000 km² of habitat (King and Lensink 1971) in contrast to the generally small parcels of habitat occupied at the sea-cliff and island sites.

King and Lensink (1971) estimated that fall flights of sea ducks originating on the delta averaged 292,300 oldsquaws, 51,000 eiders (mostly common and spectacled eiders with lesser numbers of Steller's eiders, Polysticta stelleri), and 157,000 scoters (primarily black scoters). They also estimated that half of the 150,000 black brant and most of the 150,000 emperor geese in Alaska's fall flight originate there. Although no counts have been made, we believe that the delta's lowlands support easily more than half of Alaska's nesting dunlins, black turnstones (Arenaria melanocephala), rock sandpipers (Calidris ptilocnemis), western sandpipers, and substantial percentages of red phalaropes (Phalaropus fulicarius), northern phalaropes (Lobipes lobatus), and red-throated loons.

The north side of the Alaska Peninsula (including the wetlands, uplands, and estuaries) is perhaps more important to marine birds as a staging, feeding, and resting area than as a nesting habitat. The importance of Izembek Lagoon to black brant and emperor geese during fall and spring is a classic example. King and Lensink (1971) estimated that the fall flight of sea ducks originating from the Peninsula averages 53,400 oldsquaws, 1,700 eiders, and 74,400 scoters. Breeding geese are scarce throughout the area.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Most of the major breeding habitats of marine birds in the Chukchi and Bering seas are known, but imprecisely identified as to location and size. With few exceptions, the populations of birds using these habitats are described only by the subjective and ambiguous descriptors of abundance such as "abundant, common, occasional, and rare," which makes measurement of change impossible.

We recommend that first and foremost a catalog of habitats used by birds be developed to aid resource administrators, developers, and biologists (all of whom should be "conservationists") in identifying critical habitats. We believe that such a catalog would preclude many problems because birds and their habitats could be considered at the planning stage rather than only at the operational stage. Such a catalog would also be useful to students of ornithology who are seeking locations suitable for particular studies.

Nowhere in this region have studies of marine birds been of sufficient duration to enable changes in populations (from whatever cause) to be characterized. Since some species of marine bird are known not to breed before at least 3 or more years of age, meaningful information on survival and recruitment in populations cannot be obtained by studies of less than 10 years. We therefore recommend that long-term studies be initiated at as many places as possible, but at least at one site on the Yukon-Kuskokwim delta; at a mainland colony site that has predominantly murres, kittiwakes, puffins, and cormorants; and at an island site that also has small auklets. Although the nesting distribution of the Kittlitz's murrelet remains an enigma, we regard it less of a conservation issue and more of an ornithological challenge. Consideration of logistics and support facilities must, of course, be included in the site selection process. Most of the areas suggested for these studies also merit recognition and protection by being designated as a National Wildlife Refuge, a National Park or Monument, or a State Game Sanctuary.

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