KUBUCK AND AHKLUN MOUNTAIN BIRDS 



55 



Sandhill crane (Grus canadensis). Uspm, Asr, Afm (1 May- 21 Sep- 

 tember). 



Sandhill cranes were abundant migrants along the coast in fall and 

 were frequently found nesting in wetlands near the coast. Cranes mi- 

 grated along the coast at Cape Peirce in spring 1970 (to 11 June), 1973 

 (4-29 May), and 1976 (1-20 May). Cranes were found along the coast 

 during aerial surveys in spring, including 58 in 1985 (12 May; C. P. Dau, 

 unpublished), 4 in 1986 (4 May; C. P. Dau, unpublished), 29 in 1988 

 (3 May; R. J. King and C. P. Dau, unpublished), and 7 in 1989 (4 May; R. J. 

 King and C. P. Dau, unpublished). Cranes nested in wet meadows, dwarf 

 shrub meadows, and grass meadows at 0-30 m asl along the coastal plain 

 of the study area and in the lower portions of the rivers to the west of 

 our study area. In a 260 km^ area from Ilanik Lakes to the Salmon River 

 (Platinum), we found four pairs of cranes in 1974. At Cape Peirce, a nest 

 with one pipped egg was found on 28 June 1984 (D. R. Herter et al., 

 personal communication), a pair with two small young on 2 July 1973 

 (W. Arvey, personal communication) and on 23 June 1976 (MRP photo), 

 and a family group during summer 1981 (D. R. Herter and D. Lloyd, 

 personal communication). One chick in 1973 was predated by a raven. 

 We saw adults near the Togiak River on 7-8 August 1973 and recorded 

 fall migrants at the Tuluksak River (20 August-21 September) and Cape 

 Peirce (14 August-7 September). Cranes were found at the Kwethluk 

 River on 21 and 23 July 1985 (M. Brown et al., unpublished). 



Black-bellied plover (Pluvialis squatarola), Cspm, Csr, Cftn 

 (1 May-1 October). 



Plovers migrated along coastal portions of the study area in spring 

 and fall, nested at Goodnews and Chagvan bays (DNW photo), probably 

 nested at Nanvak Bay, and nested on the tundra plain just west of our 

 study area. Territorial birds were common at Goodnews and Chagvan 

 bays in June 1974, on 15 July 1980, and on 15-17 July 1986; two broods 

 of downy young were found at Platinum Spit on 18 July 1974. This is 

 the farthest south that nesting has been recorded along coastal Alaska— 

 previously, the most southern coastal nesting area was at Hooper Bay 

 (Gabrielson and Lincoln 1959; American Ornithologists' Union 1983). 



Singles and small groups of birds were seen almost daily in intertidal 

 areas and wetlands adjacent to Nanvak Bay during spring migration (<10 

 birds per day, 1 May-8 June), and D. R. Herter and D. Lloyd (personal 

 communication) found a pair of territorial plovers near Nanvak Bay on 

 4 July 1981. A pair of territorial birds were observed near Chagvan Bay 

 in May 1987 (D. F. Parmelee and J. M. Parmelee, unpublished). P. D. 

 Ameson and D. B. McDonald (personal communication) saw a nonbreed- 

 ing-plumaged bird at Crooked Island on 20 June 1977. A pair of adults 



