[NatureNS] Ross' gull new breeding site found in Canadian Arctic

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Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2011 16:31:41 -0700
From: Matthew Baker <mattbaker@gmail.com>
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There are photos on the Surfbirds main page:

http://www.surfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=gallery10

I got an email from Mark Maftei, who explained the find and the project:

///////////
Hey guys, glad you liked the pics!

A little background on the project:

In 2005, researchers with the Canadian Wildlife Service found a new colony
of Ross's Gulls in the Canadian High Arctic and set up a camp to study the
birds. Monitoring has been ongoing for the last 5 years, and this summer we
ramped things up by starting to more thoroughly survey likely habitat for
new breeding sites. We were lucky enough to find Ross's Gulls at two new
islands we visited, and we were able to find several nesting pairs,
including birds at a site never before visited by scientists. This new
island is only the 5th confirmed breeding site for this species in North
America. We also deployed a small number of geolocators on breeding adults
in order to determine where these birds go during the winter.....something
that we just don't know yet! We are also planning to deploy satellite
transmitters on birds in Barrow, Alaska this fall in the hopes of obtaining
real-time data on individual movement patterns, and ultimately following
birds to new nesting sites in Russia and Canada. We also plan to complete a
thorough census of the birds migrating past Point Barrow during their brief
annual migration to parts unknown in order to refine our still very vague
estimate of population size and demographic structure.

Our main study site is a small and extremely remote gravel island which
hosts a large colony of Arctic Terns, the densest aggregation of breeding
Sabine's Gulls anywhere in the world, cyclically fluctuating numbers of
Common Eiders, small numbers of Red-throated Loons, Parasitic Jaegers,
Long-tailed Ducks, some shorebirds, etc....and also hosts quite a few
non-breeding species as well. Diversity is amazingly high for a (very) tiny
island north of 76 degrees; this year we recorded 39 species! We also have
lots of walruses in the spring and very frequent visits from polar bears
throughout the season.

The High Arctic Gull Research Group is a recently formed collaborative team
consisting of biologists from the Seabird Ecology Research Group at Memorial
University, the Canadian Wildlife Service and the Russian Academy of
Sciences. Our main projects include ongoing monitoring of Ivory Gull
colonies in the Canadian Arctic, our Ross's Gull project aimed at
determining what habitat this species relies on during the breeding and
wintering seasons (in both Russia and Canada), and a large-scale project
focused on Sabine's Gull migration ecology and breeding biology carried out
at multiple field sites in Canada (and as of next year, Alaska as well).

Unfortunately I cannot reveal the exact locations of the Ross's Gull
breeding sites since we have concerns for the safety of the birds and their
nesting habitat (a single Ross's Gull egg can fetch up to $10,000 USD on the
black market!), but so far we have determined that this species is probably
more abundant in North America than we had previously assumed.
We JUST wrapped up our field season, but we expect to have much of our
preliminary material ready for publication by the end of the year.

Thanks for your interest, and please feel free to stay in touch and ask more
questions. I will try and post some more photos in the next little while. We
are also hoping to get a web site up and running soon. One of our major
goals is to promote international cooperation between arctic countries in
studying circumpolar species, and so a web site would highlight our research
and promote our mandate quite well, both for fellow researchers and other
interested people.
All the best,

-Mark




-- 
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sent from my Apple IIe*

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There are photos on the Surfbirds main page:<br><br><a href=3D"http://www.s=
urfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=3Dgallery10">http://www.su=
rfbirds.com/cgi-bin/gallery/display.cgi?gallery=3Dgallery10</a><br><br>I go=
t an email from Mark Maftei, who explained the find and the project:<br>
<br>///////////<br>Hey guys, glad you liked the pics! <br><div class=3D"gma=
il_quote"><div><br></div><div>A little background on the project:</div><div=
><br></div><div>In 2005, researchers with the Canadian Wildlife Service fou=
nd a new colony of Ross&#39;s Gulls in the Canadian High Arctic and set up =
a camp to study the birds. Monitoring has been ongoing for the last 5 years=
, and this summer we ramped things up by starting to more thoroughly survey=
 likely habitat for new breeding sites. We were lucky enough to find Ross&#=
39;s Gulls at two new islands we visited, and we were able to find several =
nesting pairs, including birds at a site never before visited by scientists=
. This new island is only the 5th confirmed breeding site for this species =
in North America. We also deployed a small number of geolocators on breedin=
g adults in order to determine where these birds go during the winter.....s=
omething that we just don&#39;t know yet! We are also planning to deploy sa=
tellite transmitters on birds in Barrow, Alaska this fall in the hopes of o=
btaining real-time data on individual movement patterns, and ultimately fol=
lowing birds to new nesting sites in Russia and Canada. We also plan to com=
plete a thorough census of the birds migrating past Point Barrow during the=
ir brief annual migration to parts unknown in order to refine our still ver=
y vague estimate of population size and demographic structure.</div>




<div><br></div><div>Our main study site is a small and extremely remote gra=
vel island which hosts a large colony of Arctic Terns, the densest aggregat=
ion of breeding Sabine&#39;s Gulls anywhere in the world, cyclically fluctu=
ating numbers of Common Eiders, small numbers of Red-throated Loons, Parasi=
tic Jaegers, Long-tailed Ducks, some shorebirds, etc....and also hosts quit=
e a few non-breeding species as well. Diversity is amazingly high for a (ve=
ry) tiny island north of 76 degrees; this year we recorded 39 species! We a=
lso have lots of walruses in the spring and very frequent visits from polar=
 bears throughout the season.</div>




<div><br></div><div>The High Arctic Gull Research Group is a recently forme=
d collaborative team consisting of biologists from the Seabird Ecology Rese=
arch Group at Memorial University, the Canadian Wildlife Service and the Ru=
ssian Academy of Sciences. Our main projects include ongoing monitoring of =
Ivory Gull colonies in the Canadian Arctic, our Ross&#39;s Gull project aim=
ed at determining what habitat this species relies on during the breeding a=
nd wintering seasons (in both Russia and Canada), and a large-scale project=
 focused on Sabine&#39;s Gull migration ecology and breeding biology carrie=
d out at multiple field sites in Canada (and as of next year, Alaska as wel=
l).=A0</div>




<div><br></div><div>Unfortunately I cannot reveal the exact locations of th=
e Ross&#39;s Gull breeding sites since we have concerns for the safety of t=
he birds and their nesting habitat (a single Ross&#39;s Gull egg can fetch =
up to $10,000 USD on the black market!), but so far we have determined that=
 this species is probably more abundant in North America than we had previo=
usly assumed.=A0</div>




<div>We JUST wrapped up our field season, but we expect to have much of our=
 preliminary material ready for publication by the end of the year.=A0</div=
><div><br></div><div>Thanks for your interest, and please feel free to stay=
 in touch and ask more questions. I will try and post some more photos in t=
he next little while. We are also hoping to get a web site up and running s=
oon. One of our major goals is to promote international cooperation between=
 arctic countries in studying circumpolar species, and so a web site would =
highlight our research and promote our mandate quite well, both for fellow =
researchers and other interested people.</div>




<div>All the best,=A0</div><div><br></div><font color=3D"#888888"><div>-Mar=
k</div><div><br></div>

</font></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br><b><span style=3D"font-family=
:courier new,monospace"><br>sent from my Apple IIe</span></b><br><br>

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