INUVIK
The federal government might be concerned about the precipitous decline of the bank swallow and olive-sided flycatcher, but you wouldn't know it from a public meeting held in Inuvik Feb. 12.

Natalka Melnycky: Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board biologist led a discussion Feb. 12 on status of bank swallow and olive-sided flycatcher, two birds on the federal species at risk list.

Only eight people turned out for the meeting held by the Gwich'in Renewable Resources Board (GRRB) to discuss the crashing population numbers of the two insect-eating species.

Bank swallows, Herbert Blake of the Inuvik Native Band noted, were formerly extremely common here.

Natalka Melnycky, a biologist with the renewable resources board, told the audience the numbers of the two bird species had plunged by approximately 80 per cent in recent years across Canada. Specific statistics were unavailable for Inuvik, the Beaufort Delta or the entire NWT, but the decline has been noted anecdotally here as well.

Olive-sided flycatchers, whose range borders the fringes of the Gwich'in Settlement Area, have shown a similar near-catastrophic decline in numbers.

In both cases, there is no good explanation for the plummeting numbers, Melnycky said. Both birds could be considered important because of their insect-eating diets, and could be warning of significant environmental problems.

Olive-sided flycatchers have been on the species of concern list for some time, although no official designation has been made, she said. Bank swallows are now on their way to possibly being formally added to the list.

For the swallows, climate change could be a significant part of their decline in numbers. The birds customarily nest in colonies, most commonly along river banks. Melnycky said landslides along the delta river banks – or "slumps" – could be causing problems for the birds, which will customarily not try to breed more than once in a season.

If their nests in a given location are destroyed by a landslide, that means there won't be any young for the colony that year.

Since the mortality rate of the birds averages around 60 per cent a year, it wouldn't take long for a failed breeding year's effect to be felt on the population.

Aggregate development is also known to be a problem for the species, she added. Colonies can be wiped out by destruction of the sandy, gravelly areas they like to frequent.

If the swallows make the federal endangered or threatened list, aggregate development could be significantly affected by the presence of the birds. Operations could be shut down due to their breeding areas.

That could prove to be a big headache for projects such as the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway, although it will take at least two years for the federal government to change the official status of the birds.

A potentially bigger problem, Melnycky said, in a response to a question from audience member Mary Aulin, is pesticide use to kill insects. That deprives the swallows of their prey, and might poison the birds when they eat contaminated insects.

Since they migrate into Central and South America for the winter, where regulations on pesticides might not be as stringent as in North America, the problem is compounded.

"Since they eat a lot of insects, we could really use more of them around here," Melnycky said.

Olive-sided flycatchers have a similar range, and are affected by many of the same problems, but the reasons for their huge decline aren't quite as obvious.

No one at the meeting objected to either species being added to the threatened or endangered list.