Thick-billed murres and black guillemots in the Barrow Strait area, N.W.T., during spring: distribution and habitat use

Abstract

During the "spring" periods of 1974–1976, Uria lomvia and Cepphus grylle in the central Canadian Arctic were concentrated in the Barrow Strait area. Aerial surveys indicated that densities of both species were higher in interface habitats (i.e. along boundaries of land or ice and marine water) than in areas of open water distant from coasts or landfast ice. Murres occurred in higher densities along offshore than along coastal landfast ice edges; guillemots showed no preference between these two habitats. Guillemots, but not murres, occurred in small cracks in landfast ice. The overall preference of murres and guillemots for interface habitats was compared with the results of two other studies of the distribution of these alcids in high arctic areas.