NORTHERN CANADA & GREENLAND 
r k With this issue, we expand our regional coverage to include the islands of Greenland (or Kalaallit Nunaat, in the 
=3 fl Kalaaliisut language), east of our region but geographicaliy and ethnically very much of a piece with Arctic Cana- 
da. Since the early days of European exploration, Greenland has been politically associated with Europe, and for the past 
several centuries, Greenland has been ruled and administrated by Denmark. However, in 1 979, Denmark granted Green- 
land "home rule, "and 2008, Greenland voted to become a separate country within the Kingdom of Denmark, effective 
June 2009. The world's largest island that is not a continent, Greenland may actually consist of three large islands 
capped by ice. From Qaanaaq, Greenland to Ellesmere Island, Canada, the distance is about 230 kilometers (140 
miles) — a comparative stone's throw to a bird. 
Why Greenland, and why now? The American Ornithologists' Union is likely to add Greenland to its (heck-list area 
soon. But Greenland, the least densely populated country in the world, does not produce a bounty* of bird records, as 
birding as a practice is not widespread there, and birdiog visitors are few. So why now? 
We include Greenland not for novelty or geographic completeness (bird records from Greenland would add only ten 
species to the American Birding Association Checklist, for instance: Water Rail, Spotted Crake, Eurasian Spoonbill, Oriental 
Plover, Scaly Thrush, White's Thrush, Blackcap, Meadow Pipit, Hooded Crow, Rook) — but because Greenland's birds are our 
birds; because Greenland, like Arctic Canada, is a canary in the coalmine of the global climate crisis; and because Green- 
land, moving from its status as a federacy to a newly minted, essentially independent nation, will be making critical deci- 
sions about birds whose populations hang in the balance. Many of these species winter in North America or Europe or pass 
through our realms during migration. Some colonies have disappeared; others have declined by as much as 90%. 
In 2001, Greenland's government imposed the Bird Protection Act, making it illegal to hunt birds returning to breed, 
between 15 February and autumn. This was the country's first legislation promoting the sustainable use of wildlife. But 
just two years after this law had passed, pressure from hunters — who make up almost 20% of the population — re- 
versed the decision, and the impact of the spring and summer killing on species such as Thick-billed Murre, Common Ei- 
der, Black-legged Kittiwake has been staggering. Forty years ago, Greenland possessed more than 1 00,000 large seabird 
colonies, but decades of egg collecting and hunting have reduced these to a few hundred. The half-million Thick-biiled 
Murres that bred in the Uummannaq area in the past have been vanished — exterminated. Common Eider populations 
are Just barely 20% of their 1965 levels, according to the institute for Natural Resources in the capital of Nuuk. In North 
America, one would have to look back almost a century to find comparable "overharvest" of a bird species. 
The Greenland bird conservation group Timmiaq contends, rightly, that most of the shooting is recreational rather 
than for food or profit. Moreover, bycatch of seabirds in gillnets, disturbance of seabird colonies by boats and helicop- 
ters and sled-dogs, and almost certainly the disruption of the ecosystem by warming seas further depress populations. 
Greenland's government does acknowledge the dire situation. Biologists from Environment Canada, the Greenland Na- 
ture Institute, and the American Museum of Natural History have developed population models that show current lev- 
els of eider hunting in Greenland could be too high to sustain the health of the population. 
Why Greenland now? Because a consortium of bird conservation groups launched a campaign on 1 May 2008 to stop 
the slaughter of breeding birds in Greenland, and it is time that North American Birds acknowledge this giant neighbor, 
whose bird records are not included in either Palearctic or Nearctic journals. Because in connecting ourselves with this 
awe-inspiring island, we hope to raise awareness of both its avian riches and its conservation challenges. For those of 
you who visit Greenland, please send us your field notes, photographs, and stories, and we will do as much as we can to 
countenance them in these pages. 
this fall; the high count was just 14 on 1 Sep 
(BD, HG). Ongoing studies at Akimiski I., 
Nunavut continue to shed light on shorebird 
migration in the s. James Bay region; peak 
numbers this season included 92 Semi- 
palmated Plovers 6 Aug, 150 Greater Yel- 
lowlegs 2 Aug, 135 Lesser Yellowlegs 9 Aug, 
56 Hudsonian Godwits 5 Aug, 8 Marbled 
GodvAts 10 Aug (with the first 4 juvs. seen 
12 Aug), 100 Red Knots 24 Aug, 3316 Semi- 
palmated Sandpipers 9 Aug, and 4693 White- 
rumped Sandpipers 9 Aug (KA, JI et al); an- 
other highlight was Nunavut’s first Wilson’s 
Phalaropes (2 juvs.) 13 Aug (BW, ph. JI). 
Satellite tracking of Marbled Godwits from 
Akimiski I. saw birds traveling s. to North 
Dakota, South Dakota, and se. Colorado (fide 
BO). Highlights of an unusually weak shore- 
bird migration in Whitehorse, s. Yukon this 
year were an ad. Ruddy Turnstone 1 1 & 22 
Aug (HG), a Black Turnstone 22 Aug (ph. 
HG), and another Black Turnstone on the 
Yukon R. 26 Aug (tJeB, YL). Surveys in the 
Baffin I., Nunavut region of the High Arctic 
produced a number of interesting observa- 
tions, including three broods of Common 
Ringed Plovers at s. Milne Inlet 9 Aug (AD, 
WR); a juv. Common Ringed Plover at Iqaluit 
12 Aug (ph. BDL); an ad. Semipalmated 
Plover with a newly fledged young, at the 
edge of the species’ breeding range, at Igloo- 
lik 1-3 Aug (AD, ph. WR); a Killdeer, far n. of 
its range, at Roberston R. delta 23 Aug (AD, 
WR); a juv. Least Sandpiper at Igloolik 2 Aug 
(AD, ph. WR); 250 Red Phalaropes at Igloo- 
lik 8 Sep (BDL; AD, WR); and a flock of 110 
Purple Sandpipers at Igloolik 4 Oct (AD, 
WR), which seemed late, but perhaps not 
surprising, given the species’ northerly win- 
ter range. Elsewhere in the Region, coverage 
of fall shorebird migration is thin; notewor- 
thy observations were a juv. Hudsonian God- 
wit at Hay River, NWT 4 Aug (GV); 12 
Sanderlings at Avadlek Spit, Herschel I., n. 
Yukon 16 Aug (ph. CE); single juv. Sander- 
lings at Teslin L., s. Yukon 19 & 21 Aug and 
7 Sep (Jja); and 2 juv. Western Sandpipers 
Herschel I., n. Yukon 18 Aug (ph. CE). 
GULLS THROUGH FINCHES 
Teslin Lake B.O. produced an interesting se- 
ries of Parasitic Jaeger observations; the 
species was observed on 28 days from 7 
Aug-24 Sep, with a high count of 8 on 6 Sep; 
all but 2 were light morphs OJ^)- A second- 
cycle California Gull, a rare fall s. Yukon mi- 
grant, was at Whitehorse 26 Aug (ph. CE). 
An ad. Glaucous-winged Gull present on Her- 
schel I., n. Yukon for the 4th consecutive year 
was noted daily 15-21 Aug (ph. CE). Another 
ad. Glaucous-winged Gull was at Inuvik, 
NWT 21 Aug (CE). Sabine’s Gull is a very rare 
interior fall migrant; observations from the 
Teslin Lake B.O. were a juv. 8 Aug, 2 (ad. and 
juv.) 2 Sep, and an ad. 4 Sep QJa)- Two ad. 
Ivory Gulls with 2 newly fledged young were 
at Razorback Pt., Baffin I., Nunavut 31 Aug 
(AD, WR). The Black Guillemot population 
on Herschel L, n. Yukon now numbers about 
40 ads., similar to that recorded since 2006 
but still well below counts of over 100 guille- 
mots recorded in the mid-1980s; nest surveys 
this year recorded 17 nests with 25 chicks, 
which was the highest in the past four years 
(CE, DA, LJM, EM). 
A family of Snowy Owls (2 ads., 2 juvs.) was 
seen daily at Pauline Cove, Herschel L, n. 
Yukon 15-21 Aug (ph. CE, MM, EN). Snowy 
Owls are rarely seen elsewhere in the Yukon in 
fall; one was reported from Haines Junction, 
sw. Yukon 29 Oct (LP; CO; DO), and another 
was at Mayo, cen. Yukon 29 Oct-5 Nov 
(MOD). A Great Gray Owl, rare in the Yukon’s 
Southern Lakes region, was seen near Menden- 
hall 12 & 20 Nov (RS; SB). Short-eared Owl re- 
ports included 3 at Mayo 21 Oct (BSc), one at 
the Takhini burn, s. Yukon 27 Oct OuB), 6 
along the Alaska Hwy. between Haines Junc- 
tion and Whitehorse, s. Yukon 28 Oct (WRi), 
one near Carcross, s. Yukon 1 Nov (RS), and 
one just s. of Steward Crossing, cen. Yukon 4 
VOLUME 63 (2009) 
NUMBER 1 
107 
