Arctic Land Birds and Their Migrations

Abstract

Arctic bird life appears more complicated than that of the arctic mammals because there are more recognized species of birds that breed in the Arctic. A biologist knowledgeable about the American Arctic (Dunbar, 1968) estimated 70 arctic-breeding species of birds out of a world list of 8600. Of 3200 listed mammals, he estimated that 23 lived on land north of forests, with five or six more occurring in arctic seas. Because birds are visible and audible in their activity by day, a great deal is known about their distribution and activities as they move and change in their annual programs. What we see and hear of birds seems understandable to us in terms that represent significant individual and social operations. The unconcealed and often noisy behavior of birds, much like our own, serves to characterize their populations better than we find possible for the usually secretive, obscure, and frequently nocturnal mammals, which are so strongly guided by the sense of smell that finds so little use by birds and men. Rather scant familiarity with birds in the Arctic, however, has led to some confusing generalizations upon the manner of their arctic life.