Birds Found on the Arctic Slope of Northern Alaska

by James W. Bee

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 7½ 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.

Sterna paradisaea Pontoppidan: Arctic tern.—Specimens, 11: 7½ mi. S and 7 mi. W Point Barrow, 156°49'15", 71°16'52", sea level, 2, Nos. 31315 and 31318, ad. male, Sept. 6, 1952; NE Teshekpuk Lake, 153°05'40", 70°39'40", 8 ft., 3, Nos. 30750-30752 including 2 ad. males and 1 ad. female, Aug. 1, 1951; Topagaruk River, 155°48', [70°34'], 10 ft., 3, Nos. 30753, ad. female, July 7, 1951, and 30754, ad. male, July 9, 1951, and 30637, male, July 9, 1951; Kaolak River, 159°47'40", 70°11'15", 30 ft., 3, Nos. 30747-30749 including 2 ad. males, July 14, 18, 1951, and 1 ad. female, July 12, 1951.

Adult males and females prepared for specimens at Topagaruk (July 7, 9, 1951) showed signs of molting, especially in the primary wing feathers. Three adult males averaged 92 ([87-93]) grams in weight (the largest male collected on the Arctic Slope was from Teshekpuk Lake on August 1, 1951, and weighed 106 grams). The testes of these males averaged 4.2(3-5) mm in length (in late autumn testes recede to approximately 1.0 mm in length). Two females from the same place and shot on July 7 and 12, weighed 99 and 100 grams. The average diameter of the largest ovum was 2.0 mm and the longest ovary was 6 mm.

At Kaolak River (July 12-18, 1951) an adult hunted day and night over shallow water on a sand bar approximately 500 yards from its nest. Water from lakes in an abandoned section of the river valley caused a creek to flow at night into the river. In the day ephemeral pools were formed because more water evaporated or sank into the sands. As pools were formed, small fish one inch in length were trapped. Before the pools disappeared, the tern captured all these fish. One of the terns that had been feeding on these fish flew out over the upland tundra approximately 500 feet from the river valley. This tern dove at us twice and then returned to the river valley and its nest some 800 feet away.

The nest of this bird was on one of three islands in a small lake. The nesting island was three square yards in area and had been built to a height of four feet above the level of the mainland by many years use of the island. The nest was within 30 feet of a nest of a red-throated loon, which was accepted in the territory of the tern without molestation.

Northeast of Teshekpuk Lake (July 29-Aug. 4, 1951) a pair of terns had young on a small island in a chain of lakes opening into the south end of Barrier Lake. The adults hunted small fish along the south end of Barrier Lake but especially in small lakes surrounding their nest. These birds seemed to be the only terns nesting on this large lake. As food was plentiful, available nesting sites may have governed the size of the tern population.

Six pairs of Arctic terns, constituting less than one per cent of the avian population in the area, were nesting on small islands of the larger lakes at Topagaruk in the period July 5-10, 1951. On July 8, one nest held both eggs and young; other nests held either eggs or young. These birds and the Sabine's gulls showed no hostility to one another. On July 9, three miles north of camp 13 terns were among sedges in standing water. They seemed to be nesting but we could not reach them.

On June 23, 1952, at a point 9⁄10 mile east and 8⁄10 mile north of Barrow Village, Arctic terns were in flocks; one of eight flew northeast across the tundra. At a point 105 miles northwest of Point Barrow on an air trip to Kaolak (July 20, 1951) we saw Arctic terns, Sabine's gulls, and several pairs of loons in the same lake. The trip from Point Barrow to Kaolak was characterized by relatively few large birds. On the return trip (July 27) on a straight line flight from Kaolak to Point Barrow, only two terns were seen, one 33 miles northeast of the junction of the Avalik and Kaolak rivers and another 9.7 miles beyond. On our return trip from Teshekpuk Lake to Point Barrow (Aug. 4, 1951) we saw only a single tern; it was 63 miles southeast of Point Barrow. At Gavia Lake (Aug. 21, 1952) there were three pairs of terns. At 8:00 A.M. three other pairs appeared and then left. No young were observed. At Point Barrow (Aug. 26, 1952) 130 terns fished or rested on the lee side of the peninsula. Arctic terns were the second most common bird flying and feeding along the shore line of the Arctic Ocean 10½ miles southeast of Point Barrow on September 6, 1952. Associated species were Sabine's gulls, kittiwakes and glaucous gulls.

Nyctea scandiaca (Linnaeus): Snowy owl.—Harmon Helmericks told us of seeing a snowy owl catch a brown lemming that was swimming in open water 30 nautical miles north of Thetis Island in April of 1946.