Biodiversity

The Canadian Wildlife Service list of Birds Recorded in the Old Crow Flats SMA/ Vuntut National Park up to 1998 (CWS 2000) contains 130 species, 63 of which are confirmed to breed in the area ( Appendix II). For this list, 8 species are represented by only one record. Ten of the most-frequently recorded waterbirds are: northern pintail, American wigeon, mallard, green-winged teal, Pacific loon, herring gull, oldsquaw, white-winged scoter, mew gull, and tundra swan. The ten most frequently recorded land birds are: white-crowned sparrow, raven, rusty blackbird, yellow warbler, lesser yellowlegs, northern waterthrush, fox sparrow, American robin, least sandpiper, and gray-cheeked thrush (CWS 2000).

The land bird survey of Ivvavik National Park produced a list of 143 species (Anne C. Holcroft Weerstra Biota Consultants 1997). In two areas surveyed which are closest to Vuntut National Park, forty-four species were recorded at Muskeg Creek (the highest number of species) and thirty-one at Cottonwood Creek (the sixth highest).

A survey of land birds in the Thomas Creek area of northwestern Vuntut National Park in June 1998 and 1999 (Henry et al. 2000) documented 102 birds within that part of Vuntut National Park. Of the 102 species, five were only observed in the Old Crow Flats Ecoregion of the Park: greater white-fronted goose, American wigeon, common goldeneye, red-tailed hawk (Harlan’s subspecies) and tree swallow. The other 97 species were either observed only in the Old Crow Basin Ecoregion or in both the Old Crow Basin and Old Crow Flats Ecoregions of the Park (see Appendix III). A daily checklist of all birds seen or heard was compiled for each day park staff and reseachers worked in the field. Through June 1999, 48 daily checklists have been compiled. The majority of the daily checklists were compiled in three different areas within or adjacent to the Park: Lower Thomas Creek, Upper Thomas Creek and Old Crow River. Bird sightings were collected in a radius of 10 to 12 km from the centres of these areas. Birds were surveyed in all habitat types from wetlands and poplar-willow communities in the valley bottoms to alpine tundra and bare rock ridges at the higher elevations.

Birds species were categorized according to three relative abundance classes: common (recorded on 50 percent or more of the daily checklists), uncommon (recorded on 20 to 49 percent of the daily checklists) or rare (recorded on less than 20 percent of the daily checklists). Approximately 4 percent of the bird species (4 out of 102 species) were commonly observed; 19 percent of the species (19 out of 102) were uncommonly observed, and 77 percent (79 out of 102) were rarely observed in these areas of the Park ( Appendix III).

The birds classified as commonly observed in these specific areas of Vuntut National Park were: Canada goose, gray-cheeked thrush, yellow-rumped warbler, and white-crowned sparrow. Birds classed as uncommonly observed include: tundra swan, greater white-fronted goose, mallard, northern harrier, rock ptarmigan, American golden plover, spotted sandpiper, whimbrel, lesser yellowlegs, common snipe, long-tailed jaeger, mew gull, short-eared owl, gray jay, common raven, American robin, varied thrush, yellow warbler, and hoary redpoll (both the hoary and common redpolls are repeatedly observed). Appendix III lists the 53 additional bird species that are known to occur in Vuntut National Park which have been classified as rarely observed in the specific areas.

As a result of these surveys, breeding records for 15 species of birds have been documented for Vuntut National Park. A breeding record was recorded only if there was a sighting of an active nest with eggs or young, or there was a sighting of an adult bird with flightless young (Henry et al. 2000). The 15 species of birds recorded as breeding in the Park are: greater white-fronted goose, Canada goose, mallard, oldsquaw, northern harrier, willow ptarmigan, rock ptarmigan, American golden plover, spotted sandpiper, whimbrel, lesser yellowlegs, gray jay, American robin, American tree sparrow, and savannah sparrow.

A number of researchers have submitted bird sightings and breeding records for the area to the Birds of the Yukon Database (see Appendix II). This database contains confirmed breeding records for 63 bird species for the area. At the present time, it is not possible to tell if these breeding records occurred inside or outside Vuntut National Park. However, they clearly are confirmed breeding records for the Old Crow Flats Special Management Area.