Investigation of knot nests on Ellesmere Island ...

• Main Author: Nettleship, David N
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 1974
• Subjects: Observation; Ellesmere Island; Hazen Camp; Calidris canutus; Tundra
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.745767; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.745767

Knots arrive on Ellesmere Island in late May or early June. At Hazen Camp small flocks were present on 3 June 1966, but the main influx occurred 5 June when many flocks were seen ranging in size from 6 to 60 individuals. The sexes appeared to arrive together, but the manner of pair-formation was not determined. By 7 June pairs were distributed over the tundra with large feeding flocks forming at snowfree wet marshy areas. Most nests were on Dryas-hummocked slopes and tundra, either dry or moist, with some on clay plains and summits in a mixed Dryas and Salix vegetation. A census area of 240 ha supported at least 3 breeding pairs, and possibly 5; the total number of pairs breeding in the Hazen Camp study area was estimated to be about 25 (1.09 pairs/km**2). Egg-laying (4 nests) extended from 15 to 28 June, with 3 of the 4 sets completed between 20 and 23 June. Both sexes incubated, one of the pair more regularly than the other. The song-flight display of the male was performed most frequently during egglaying ... : Supplement to: Nettleship, David N (1974): The breeding of the knot Calidris canutus at Hazen Camp, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T. Polarforschung, 44(1), 8-26 ...