2011 Annual Report of NWT Wildlife Research Permits and Western ...

Wildlife Species Research:
Birds
collected from semipalmated sandpipers, red-necked
phalaropes and pectoral sandpipers. Blood and feather
samples were also collected from Hudsonian godwits
and whimbrel.
RESULTS AND MAIN CONCLUSIONS:
We found a total of 76 shorebird nests. We banded 54
adult shorebirds and 60 juveniles. Twenty-four of 35 nests
on Taglu and Fish Islands hatched successfully. Nest
success on Niglintgak Island was not determined as travel
there was only possible once a week and sometimes the
nests were gone by the time we arrived. Pectoral
sandpipers, which were unusually absent from the site in
2010, had returned. We also found three cases of least
sandpipers nesting in the wet sedge low centered polygon
habitat on Fish Island. In previous years, we have only
observed least sandpipers nesting in dry upland habitats.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT:
Since 2005, CWS Shorebird Program has hired nine
students from local communities including Fort
McPherson, Yellowknife, Inuvik, and Tuktoyaktuk, to work
as part of our field team (Candice Cockney, Kayla Hansen-
Craik, Kayla Nuyaviak, Kim Jones, Margaret Noksana,
Ryan Binder, Ryan Greig, Ryan Vittrekwa, and Shelby
Skinner). Our research is supported by the Wildlife
Management Advisory Council (NWT), the wildlife
management board for the Inuvialuit Settlement Region.
We regularly communicate with the Hunters and Trappers
Committees in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk about our project
and to obtain recommendations for research.
LONG-TERM PLANS .
AND RECOMMENDATIONS:
The shorebird camp in the Mackenzie Delta is one
of two Arctic Program for Regional and International
Shorebird Monitoring (PRISM) Tier 2 (long term)
shorebird monitoring sites in Canada. It is also part
of the newly created ASDN which is drawing together
arctic-breeding shorebird demographics from a variety
of sites spread around the Arctic, using a standard set
of protocols so the data can be part of a central database.
Additional studies in the area are dependent on the
outcome of the Joint Review Panel’s decision on the
Mackenzie Gas Project (MGP). Should the MGP be
approved, further studies will be necessary to monitor
the impact of development on shorebirds breeding
in the affected area.
Whimbrel chick.
Photo: L. Pirie
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