Arctic Shorebirds in North America

Each year shorebirds from North and South America migrate thousands of miles to spend the summer in the Arctic. There they feed in shoreline marshes and estuaries along some of the most productive and pristine coasts anywhere. With so much available food they are able to reproduce almost explosively; and as winter approaches, they retreat south along with their offspring, to return to the Arctic the following spring. This remarkable pattern of movement and activity has been the object of intensive study by an international team of ornithologists who have spent a decade counting, surveying, and observing these shorebirds. In this important synthetic work, they address multiple questions about these migratory bird populations. How many birds occupy Arctic ecosystems each summer? How long do visiting shorebirds linger before heading south? How fecund are these birds? Where exactly do they migrate and where exactly do they return? Are their populations growing or shrinking? The results of this study are crucial for better understanding how environmental policies will influence Arctic habitats as well as the far-ranging winter habitats used by migratory shorebirds.

Jonathan R. Bart is a Research Wildlife Biologist with the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center of the USGS in Boise, ID.

Victoria Johnston is a former biologist, now Policy Analyst, for Environment Canada and is based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

Foreword
Susan K. Skagen, Paul A. Smith, Brad Andres, Garry Donaldson and Stephen Brown

Part 1: Introduction

1. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Victoria Johnston and Jonathan Bart

2. METHODS
Jonathan Bart, Victoria Johnston, Paul A. Smith, Ann Manning, Jennie Rausch and Stephen Brown


Part 2: Regional Reports

3. SHOREBIRD SURVEYS IN WESTERN ALASKA
Brian J. McCaffery, Jonathan Bart, Catherine Wightman and David Krueper

4. NORTH SLOPE OF ALASKA
Jonathan Bart, Stephen Brown, Brad Andres, Robert Platte and Ann Manning

5. YUKON NORTH SLOPE AND MACKENZIE DELTA
Jennie Rausch and Victoria Johnston

6. SOUTHAMPTON AND COATS ISLANDS
Paul A. Smith, Victoria Johnston and Jennie Rausch

7. PRINCE CHARLES, AIR FORCE, AND BAFFIN ISLANDS
Victoria Johnston and Paul A. Smith

8. SMALL-SCALE AND RECONNAISSANCE SURVEYS
Jonathan Bart, Brad A. Andres, Kyle Elliott, Charles M. Francis, Victoria Johnston, R.I.G. Morrison, Elin P. Pierce and Jennie Rausch


Part 3: Methodology

9. AERIAL SURVEYS: A WORTHWHILE ADD-ON TO PRISM SURVEYS, ESPECIALLY IN THE INTERIOR?
Kyle H. Elliott and Paul A. Smith

10. SURVEY METHODS FOR WHIMBREL
Lisa Pirie and Victoria Johnston

11. TIER 2 SURVEYS
Lisa Pirie, Victoria Johnston and Paul A. Smith

12. ARCTIC PRISM TIER 3 - PROGRESS NOTES FROM THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES-NUNAVUT BIRD CHECKLIST SURVEY
Lindsay A. Armer, Craig S. Machtans and Brian T. Collins

13. DESIGN OF FUTURE SURVEYS
Jonathan Bart and Paul A. Smith

Part 4: Synthesis

14. SUMMARY
Jonathan Bart and Paul A. Smith

15. PRIORITIES FOR FUTURE PRISM SURVEYS
Jonathan Bart, Victoria Johnston, Jennie Rausch, Paul A. Smith and Brian McCaffery

16. LITERATURE CITED


Appendices

A. OTHER METHODS FOR ESTIMATING TRENDS OF ARCTIC BIRDS
Jonathan Bart, Stephen Brown, R. I. Guy Morrison and Paul A. Smith

B. REGIONAL DENSITY ESTIMATES

C. COMMON, SCIENTIFIC AND ABBREVIATED NAMES FOR SPECIES INCLUDED IN THE VOLUME

Index