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Environmental Implications - Other birds

 

Sea Duck

Sea ducks visit the 1002 region for 2 to 4 weeks every year. While they do not breed here, they use the area for molting purposes. Anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 birds visit the region each year. Predators include the arctic fox and glaucous gulls.

Critical Time Periods
Sea ducks visit the 1002 region from mid-July to mid-September.

Sensitivities
There has been a decline in the number of sea ducks and other marine birds in the area, which raises concern about the impact that oil drilling will have on them, especially if there is a spill. Sea ducks are especially vulnerable during their stay on the North Slope because the time they spend there is for molting. This leaves them unable to fly for 3-4 weeks. Molting also requires a large amount of protein to grow new feathers. Oil drilling could potentially disrupt the ducks' foraging capabilities, depriving them of much needed nutrients. However, one study showed that the ducks' foraging patterns are not significantly altered by minor disturbances, which perhaps suggests that oil drilling will not have a large impact on them. Another study that was performed showed that seismic activity does disturb ducks. Their results show a decline in population in a certain area where seismic activity starts, although underwater seismic activity had no effect on them.

Buff Breasted Sandpiper

General Information

Buff-breasted Sandpipers migrate to their wintering grounds in groups from 500-2200; their populations suffered from development of agriculture in the Great Plains of North America and the Pampas of South America. The Sandpiper's key wintering sites must be protected.

Critical Time Periods
The Buff-Breasted sandpipers arrive in their Alaskan breeding grounds in mid-April and vacate their breeding grounds in mid-July.

Sensitivities
The Buff-breasted Sandpiper mates in leks, or an area of ground approximately 8 acres in size, each containing about 10 males. Therefore the ground taken up by a mating Buff-breasted Sandpiper flock is fairly extensive. Human development of winter habitats infringes on land, disrupts the mating pattern and also attracts predators to the area.

Tundra Swan

General Information
Twice a year, Tundra Swans migrate 6,000 km between breeding areas in Alaska and The Canadian Arctic and wintering areas in eastern and western North America. Approximately 150 pairs of tundra swans nest on the coastal plain. Tundra swans feed on the following plants: foxtail and other grasses, wild celery, pondweeds, smartweeds, square-stem spike rush , arrowhead, coontail, mermaid weed, muskgrasses, bulrushes, horsetail, wigeon grass, and bur reed. Rice and barley are eaten in stubble fields. Tundra swans also feed on waste corn in both dry and flooded fields and upon harvested potatoes. These swans commonly fly as far as 10 to 15 miles (16-24 km) inland to glean waste corn and soybeans and to browse upon shoots of winter wheat. Animals that prey on tundra swans include: Golden Eagles, jaegers, wolves, foxes, and bears.

Critical Time Periods
Tundra swans start nesting between May and late June, depending on location and weather. During fall migration, tundra swans leave their major breeding grounds in the 1002 area in late September and early October. For their spring migration, tundra swans leave their central California winter grounds in mid-February, and most of the birds have departed within 3 weeks. By early April almost all of them have migrated north to Alaska and Canada.

Sensitivities
Scientists believe that new Tundra swan pairs are less likely to establish themselves on lakes where humans reside. They are extremely sensitive to noise pollution and as a
result, inadvertent disturbance can cause adult swans to abandon their nests and cygnets.

 

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