Home page

Text size

E-mail this page

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Yellowknife may see fewer ptarmigan this year than last winter if trends continue. The ptarmigan population typically follows a 10-year cycle, which is reliant on levels of predators and food sources.

Fewer ptarmigan will be seen in Yellowknife this winter if trends with the white grouse's 10-year cycle continues, biologists predict. - NNSL file photo

"The last few years had been at the high point in the ptarmigan cycle and I expect that we will see fewer this year," said Vicki Johnston, a biologist with Environment Canada.

"But it's kind of hard to tell in Yellowknife because each year it seems there's more people feeding them, so we are actually actively attracting them to town, which can confuse the situation of what's going on out in nature. But, if it does continue along the pattern, there should be fewer ptarmigan this year."

Ptarmigan levels are closely related to those of snowshoe hare and lynx, two of the bird's predators, Johnston explained. When lynx levels are high, ptarmigan levels tend to be low.

"The first ptarmigan I saw this year was the last week of October. Normally the end of October and first couple weeks of November is when we get the biggest influx of ptarmigan," she said.

Weledeh MLA Bob Bromley, a bird-watching enthusiast, helps with the annual Christmas Bird Count and gives credence to concerns about the cycle.

"I would say we are not seeing as distinct a cycle as we are used to seeing. Things seem to be falling apart the last few years. We will be looking to see where we are at compared to what we predict," Bromley said.

The Christmas Bird Count will be conducted between Dec. 15 and Jan. 1. Teams will count birds for three hours on one day. Those numbers are compared with observations made three days before and after the official count.

While there may be fewer ptarmigan, one species is back in full force: the redpoll, a small, social bird belonging to the finch family visible in the winter wherever seeds are plentiful.

"They are what is known as an eruptive species. Some years they will be here in tremendous numbers, and the very next year there may be hardly any. It depends a lot on how cold it is and also what the seed crop is like in any given year," Johnston said, adding she noticed more red polls this year than last year.

Both Bromley and Johnston point to a trend of birds arriving one to two weeks earlier in the spring, suggesting climate change is having a slight impact.

"The biggest way we notice is in the springtime. Birds are arriving an average of two weeks earlier than they were in the 1970s," Bromley said.

Johnston said according to records going back to the 1990s, small birds are arriving an average of a week earlier in the spring.

Last year, there were 255 ptarmigan, 2,613 raven, 46 black-billed magpie, 113 redpoll and one Northern hawk owl sightings recorded during the Christmas Bird Count.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.