A summaryof bandedNorth Americanbirds encounteredin Europe ]ohn V. Dennis Introduction NorthAmerican birds furnishing European recoveries Greenland's birds being included in both the A.O.U. or encountersare chiefly arctic or northern species checklist area (1957)and, for instance,in Vaurie's "The from Greenland and Canada. Greenland alone has Birds of the Palearctic Fauna" (1959). As a rule of supplied 560 European encounters.The Queen Eliza- thumb, the birds on the western side of the island are beth Islands,lying to the west of Greenland,have also derived from, and migrateto, North America; thoseon furnished a sizable number of European encounters, the easternside have their affinitieswith Europe.Thus, including63 sightingsof marked Brant (Branta bern/- althoughmost of the European recoveriesof "North clal. American" birds have come from Greenland, it is arguablewhether they are truly New World birds. Banding operations south of the Great Lakes, USA, have furnished only four European encounters.The Iceland,clearly regardedas a part of Europe,is only southernmost North American banded bird encounter- 440 km (275 mi) away from Greenland; Scotlandand ed in Europe was a SandwichTern (Sternasandvicen- Ireland are about1800 km (1100mi) away.Birds making sis/banded at Cape Lookout,North Carolina. the flight from Greenland to western Europe have Excluding Brant and birds banded in Greenland, the island "steppingstones" available: Iceland, and then- total number of European encountersof North Ameri- 440 km (275 mi) east of Iceland -- the Faeroe Islands. canbirds through1979 stands at 50.These birds, repre- From the Faeroes it is only 300 km (185 mi) to the senting23 species,were encounteredover a wide geo- ShetlandIslands or 320 km (200 mi) to the Orkney graphical area stretchingfrom Iceland and the British Islands off the northern coast of Scotland. Isles to southernEurope, Morocco, and the Azores. Only one passerine,a Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax Southof Greenlandthe distancesare muchgreater. For nivalis) encounteredat sea off Iceland,is represented. example,a bird flyingin a northeasterlydirection from It is believed that mostNorth Americanspecies reach- the New Jerseycoast would have to fly approximately ing Europe crossthe Atlantic Ocean at higher latitudes. 5150km (3200mi) over open ocean in order to reach Ireland. To reach the Azores, which lie due east of the Discussion New Jerseycoast, a bird would have to fly approxi- mately 3700km (2300mi) and then would have about It seemsstrange that of the millions ofbirds banded in another1600 km (1000mi) to Portugal. North America only a small percentagehas been en- counteredin Europe. The explanationlies in geogra- Although distances and directions deter most North phy, weather, and migrationpatterns. American birds (aside from those in Greenland and Greenland,which has producedmost of the European nearby arctic islands)from reachingEurope, there are encounters,is the largestisland in the world, with an many sightrecords each year and bandingre-encoun- area of about 840,000sq mi (200,000,000hectares) and ters are slowly accumulating.Greenland speciesthat all but its coastalstrips are permanently coveredwith have contributedmost heavily to the trans-Atlanticflow glaciers.It is generally consideredas part of North includethe Pink-footedGoose (Anser brachyrhynchus), America; it lies about 770 km (480mi) to the northeast BarnacleGoose (Branta leucopsis), Arctic Tern (Sterna of the Labrador coastand 320km (200mi) from Baffin paradisaea),Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) and Snow Bunting,as well as the Greenland races of Island at their closestpoints. At its northwestcorner it is separatedfrom EllesmereIsland in northermostCan- White-frontedGoose (Anser albiforns), the Northern ada by only a narrow channel. Wheatear (Oenantheoenanthe), and CommonRedpoll (Carduelisflammea). Other far northern speciesthat Faunally,however, Greenland is really Holarcticrather nest,in somecases, quite far west of Greenlandand yet than Palearctic(related to Europe) or Nearctic (related contribute significantlyto the eastward migration to to North America). This dichotomy is reflected by Europe in the fall, are the light-bellied race of the Page88 North AmericanBird Bander Vol. 6, No. 3 Brant, the Red Knot (Calidriscanutus), and the Ruddy counters(not detailedhere) that supportthis conten- Turnstone (Arenaria interpres). tion. Asidefrom theseregular migrants there are a numberof EasternGreenland has supplied272 of the encounters other species-- especiallywaterfowl, shorebirds, and listed in this paper, while westernGreenland has 288 gulls-- that appearalong European shores often enough encounters;13 of these were Arctic Terns encountered to suggestthe possibilitythat theyare not merelystrays. in Africa (see Table 2). The strongeast-west faunal Accordingto Gooder(1974), the averagenumber of Surf division of Greenland is clearly seen in banding re- Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) sighted in British encounters.There are no recordsof eastslope encoun- waterseach year is about100. He alsoreports significant ters from the American continent or its waters, but the yearly numbersof AmericanWigeon (Arias americana), west slopehas suppliedNorth America and its waters the American race of the Green-winged Teal (Arias with no fewer than 365 encounters. Most numerous of creccacarolinensis), Blue-winged Teal (Ariasdiscors), these:the Thick-billedMurre (Uria lornvia),264; Snow and Ring-neckedDucks (Aythya collaris). Bunting,34; King Eider (Somateriaspectabilis), 23; and The numbers of North American shorebirdsthat ap- Northern Fulmar (Fulmarusglacialis), 15. Only a west pear alongthe coastsof Britain eachyear are equally slopeGreenland species figure importantly in European impressive.While the Buff-breastedSandpiper (Tryn- encounters: White-fronted Goose, 240; Arctic Tern, 19 gitessubruficollis) leads all othersin sightings,signifi- (includes13 from Africa); and Northern Wheatear, 10. cant numbers of Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa fiavipes), Wilson'sPhalaropes (Steganopus tricolor), Long-billed It is interestingthat the westslope has furnishedall 10 Dowitchers(Limnodromus scolopaceus), White-rumped of the Wheatear encounters.According to Snow {1971), Sandpipers(Caldris fuscicollis),Pectoral Sandpipers the Greenland and Labrador races of the Wheatear ' (Calidris melanotos),and Purple Sandpipers(Calidris winter largely in African savannahsfrom Senegalto maritima) are also recorded.The Purple Sandpiper Nigeria, Gongo,and Zambia. Here they are joined by breeds in Iceland and Scandinavia as well but Robert members of the same speciesthat breed in Europe. Hudson{pets. comm.) stated that there seemsto be a Transientsfrom North America have suppliedencoun- trans-Atlanticmovement involving the birds from Gana- ter records while en route through parts of western da also. He stated that there are two east-to-west en- Europe. Table 1. Foreign encounters of birds banded in East Greenland Germany France Iceland Britain Norway Belgium Spain FaeroesIreland USSR DenmarkNetbids Portugal Total Red-throated Loon 2 2 (Gaviastemlata) Barnacle Goose 65 170 2 1 1 239 (Brantaleucopsis) Pink-footedgoose 5 5 (Anserbrachyrhynchus) Common Eider 1 1 (Somateria mollissime) KingEider 1 1 (Somateriaspectabilis) RingedPlover 1 1 2 (Charadrius hiaticula) RuddyTurnstone 2 1 3 (Arenariainterpres) Dunlin 6 6 (Calidrisalpine) IvoryGull 2 2 (Pagophilaeburnea) Thick-billed Murre 1 1 (Uria lornvia) SnowBunting 1 7 2 10 (Plectrophenaxnivalis) Total 68 180 9 6 1 8 272 Jul.-Sep. 198• NorthAmerican Bird Bander Page89 SnowBuntings banded on the westslope of Greenland groundsin Ireland, with stopsin Iceland en route. have been encounteredonly in Canada and United Sightingsor encountersof marked birds have been States;Snow Buntingsbanded on the east slope have obtainedfrom England,the Channel Islands,France, been trans-Atlanticencounters only. The main winter- and the Netherlands.Preliminary reports on the Brant ing groundof the east Greenlandbirds appearsto be marking operationshave been supplied by Maltby- the steppesof the SovietUnion/7 encounters}. Prevettet al (1975)and Rutfledge(1977); a fuller analy- sisis beingprepared by the CanadianWildlife Service. Canada'sQueen ElizabethIslands, including Ellesmere and Bathurst, that lie to the west and northwest of Many shorebirdshave been banded in the Queen Greenland, have furnished a sizable number of Euro- Elizabeth Islands and these, togetherwith the Arctic pean encounters.By far the largestnumber 163}have Tern, have supplied8 additionalEuropean encounters been suppliedby nestingBrant. The placingof painted (Table 3). Labrador has produced6 European encoun- aluminum neck-collarson capturedbirds has permitted ters, Newfoundland 1, the Maritime Provinces (and the easyidentification of thesegeese when they appear adjacentregions) 24, and the Great Lakesregion 7. Only elsewhere.Results to date show that thesenortherly- 4 Europeanencounters have been suppliedby birds nestinglight-bellied Brant move chiefly to wintering banded in states south of the Great Lakes. Table 2. Foreign encounters of birds banded in West Greenland Britain GermanyFrance USA Iceland Ireland NorwayBelgium Spain CanadaFaerees Chanls Denmark Nethlds Portu9al Africa Total Red-throated Loon 1 1 1 3 (GavJastellata) Northern Fulmar 15 2 17 (Fulmarusglacialis) White-fronted Goose 3 21 218 1 243 (Anseralbiforms) Oldsquaw 2 1 1 4 (Clangulahyemalis) KingEider 23 23 (Somateriaspectabilis) RingedPlover 1 1 (Charadriushiaticula) RuddyTurnstone 1 1 2 (Arenariainterpres)