Arctic Video Clips

Wildlife Conservation Society field researchers used video cameras to document predation activities on bird nests in the Arctic Coastal Plain.  We used video-cameras to identify nest predators at active shorebird and passerine nests and, separately, conducted point-count surveys to determine species richness and detection frequency of potential nest predators in the Prudhoe Bay region of Alaska.  We identified 16 potential nest predators from surveys with glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus) and parasitic jaegers (Stercorarius parasiticus) making up over 80% of the observations.  Arctic foxes (Alopex lagopus), however, were identified in five of six predation events recorded with the cameras.  These results indicate that estimated abundances of predators alone may not accurately reflect their true or proportional importance as nest predators.  We also found that the identified predators removed all eggs and left the nests intact.  Thus, attempts at identifying predators based solely on nest remains are not reliable for smaller bird species in this region.  We found no evidence that camera-monitored nests were at greater risk of predation or desertion than camera-free nests.  Overall, our ability to film predation events was hampered by the brief, highly synchronized breeding season, harsh climate, and higher nest survivorship for shorebirds in this region relative to temperate-breeding passerines which have been the focus of most studies attempting to identify nest predators with camera systems at active nests. 

Predation Videos

Predation Video 1 (3.11MB AVI file) - parasitic jaeger arriving at nest moments before depredating red-necked phalarope eggs

Predation Video 2 (26.6MB AVI file) - arctic fox consuming eggs at a semipalmated sandpiper nest

Predation Video 3 (28.1MB AVI file) - arctic fox carrying a dunlin egg from a nest

Arctic Coastal Plain Related Publications

Contacts

Steve Zack, Ph.D.
szack@wcs.org

Joe Liebezeit, M.S
jliebezeit@wcs.org