High Arctic a Safer Breeding Ground for Tiny Shorebirds
18.01.2010 - Flora & Fauna, Arctic
A new study published in the journal Science shows that Canadian scientists might have figured out why millions of tiny shorebirds migrate from South America to the Arctic to nest. According to Grant Gilchrist, a biologist with Environment Canada and Carleton University in Ottawa,"the Canadian Arctic supports huge numbers of the planet's shorebirds."
Scientists involved in the study were able to determine that the reason why the birds spend a lot of energy flying over suitable habitat to reach the Far North might be that they are trying to raise their offspring in security. The farther north the birds travel, the safer they will be from predators like foxes and hunting birds.
Throughout June and July 2009, scientists put out some 1,500 camouflaged nests from Hudson Bay in the south to Ellesmere Island in the north and filled them with quail’s eggs. Nine days later, they returned to record the number of eggs lost to predators.
From south to north, the loss of eggs to predators fell by 56%, a decline of about 3.6% for every degree of latitude to the north. They concluded that the harsher conditions shorebirds face in the north are counterbalanced by higher chances of their offspring surviving against predators.
