L. W. SOWL 



Byrd, personal communication). 



Is it possible that we have here another 

 species which is exhibiting a response to some 

 unknown long-term perturbation? The sug- 

 gestion that such an event has occurred is 

 faint, but it is there. Do we have in the red- 

 legged and black-legged kittiwakes an 

 example of yet another congener pair that has 

 been affected by some perturbation in which 

 one was affected positively and the other 

 negatively? Clark (1911) reported small num- 

 bers of black-legged kittiwakes to go with 

 large numbers of red-legged kittiwakes in the 

 Near Islands, which is the reverse of the cur- 

 rent situation. 



Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) 



Gabrielson and Lincoln (1959) attribute to 

 the Arctic tern the most extensive range of 

 any Alaskan water bird. It is found in suitable 

 habitat everywhere north of Tracy Arm in 

 Southeastern Alaska. Murie (1959) stated 

 that he found it nesting at suitable sites 

 everywhere he went. Isleib and Kessel (1973) 

 considered it to be an abundant breeder in 

 Prince William Sound and along the northern 

 Gulf Coast. 



The Arctic tern was observed in FWS aerial 

 surveys in Prince William Sound, and surveys 

 in July and August 1972 provided an estimate 

 of 45,000 terns in the Sound (Isleib and Kessel 

 1973). On the other hand, tern colonies were 

 located only rarely in the FWS colony surveys 

 before 1975. This is, however, a reflection of 

 the equipment and methods used and not of 

 the abundance of terns. 



From the fragmentary data available, it is 

 not possible to detect changes in Arctic tern 

 status at the present time. We have to assume 

 that the widespread introduction of fox had at 

 least local impact. Although this tern uses a 

 wide variety of nesting sites, it tends to nest 

 on flat sites where access by mammalian 

 predators is easy. 



Aleutian Tern (Sterna aleutica) 



No Aleutian tern colonies were discovered 

 in the Gulf of Alaska area during FWS colony 

 surveys in the early 1970's. This is again a re- 

 flection of the fact that surveys were not de- 

 signed to locate tern colonies. Aleutian terns 

 were encountered at least twice, once during 



late March 1972 in Hawkins Cutoff, Prince 

 William Sound, and again when two birds 

 were noted offshore from the Katmai National 

 Monument on 30 May 1973 (L. W. Sowl, per- 

 sonal observations). 



The type specimen of the Aleutian tern and 

 a single egg were collected at Kodiak Island 

 on 12 June 1868 by Bischoff (Coues 1874). 

 Fisher (Gabrielson and Lincoln 1959) collected 

 four more eggs in 1882. The bird was not 

 found breeding there until Howell (1948) 

 found a colony of 50 pairs at Bell's Flats in 

 1944. Walker (1923) found them nesting on 

 the Situk River, Yakutat, in 1917 and shortly 

 thereafter saw them at the Alsek River Flats. 

 He also reported that D. H. Stevenson of the 

 Bureau of Biological Survey had told him that 

 they nested on the Isanotski Islands at the 

 end of the Alaska Peninsula. This latter re- 

 port was the only one from the Aleutian Is- 

 land chain for many years. Isleib and Kessel 

 (1973) considered it an uncommon local 

 breeder in the northern Gulf of Alaska. Isleib 

 estimated its population at a few hundred pairs 

 on the Copper River Delta in May 1973 and 

 300-500 birds in June 1970. He also reported 

 that they appeared more or less regularly near 

 Controller Bay and off the Situk River. 



In recent years Aleutian terns have been 

 seen with increasing frequency in many places 

 in western Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. 

 This is probably partly due to the increasing 

 level of field work. At Amchitka Island the 

 several colonies that have been found in re- 

 cent years are almost certainly exhibiting a 

 response to the removal of fox from the 

 island. 



Although there is no way of determining 

 what the past status of the Aleutian tern has 

 been in the Gulf of Alaska area, it has been 

 there in small numbers since it was first dis- 

 covered on Kodiak. It has probably not been 

 abundant at any time and may have suffered 

 a long-term decline brought about by the in- 

 troduction of fox. 



Common Murre (Uria aalge) 



The common murre is resident in the north- 

 ern and western Gulf of Alaska from Pinnacle 

 Rock, Kayak Island, westward. East of Cook 

 Inlet colonies are located at Wingham Island, 

 the Martin Islands, Middleton Island, Por- 



