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The Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Larus Fuscus, in Greenland D

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The Lesser Black-Backed Gull, Larus Fuscus, in Greenland D ARCTIC VOL. 61, NO. 2 (JUNE 2008) P. 129– 133 The Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus, in Greenland D. BOERTMANN1 (Received 27 March 2007; accepted in revised form 4 September 2007) ABSTRACT. The lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus) became a frequent visitor in Greenland in the mid-1980s. Breeding was confirmed in 1990, and today the species is a common breeder in at least two areas in Southwest Greenland between 60˚ and 66˚ N. The current breeding population is estimated at more than 700 pairs. Even though the colonization of Greenland by this species may be primarily the result of an increasing source population in Northwest Europe, climate change most likely will facilitate its expansion farther north in Greenland and probably also farther west to eastern Canadian coasts. Key words: lesser black-backed gull, Larus fuscus, Greenland, range expansion, North Atlantic RÉSUMÉ. Le goéland brun (Larus fuscus) est un visiteur fréquent du Groenland depuis le milieu des années 1980. La reproduction de cette espèce y a d’ailleurs été confirmée en 1990 et de nos jours, elle se reproduit régulièrement dans au moins deux régions du sud-ouest du Groenland, entre 60˚ et 66˚ N. En ce moment, la population de reproduction est évaluée à plus de 700 paires. Bien que la colonisation du Groenland par cette espèce puisse être attribuable à une population source de plus en plus grande dans le nord-ouest de l’Europe, le changement climatique facilitera vraisemblablement son foisonnement plus au nord du Groenland et probablement plus à l’ouest vers la côte est canadienne. Mots clés : goéland brun, Larus fuscus, Groenland, expansion de l’aire de répartition, Atlantique Nord Traduit pour la revue Arctic par Nicole Giguère. INTRODUCTION The increase has accelerated in Iceland, Britain, and Ire- land in recent decades (Calladine, 2004; A. Petersen, pers. The bird fauna of Greenland is young, as all the breeding comm. 2005), coinciding with an increase of vagrant birds are supposed to be post-glacial immigrants that lesser black-backed gulls along the Atlantic borders of the found their way to this large island during approximately Nearctic–Greenland, Canada, and the United States the last 10000 years (Bennike, 1999). Immigration is (Boertmann, 1994; Post and Lewis, 1995). Breeding was ongoing, and many bird niches still seem to be unoccupied confirmed in Greenland in 1990, and today lesser black- in Greenland, judging from the low diversity there com- backed gulls breed abundantly in the Southwest Greenland pared to the adjacent Baffin Island or other Arctic areas region. Recently breeding has also occurred in the high (Boertmann, 1994, 1999). Arctic as far north as 74˚ N. This paper documents the In recent decades, two bird species have immigrated to development of the lesser black-backed gull breeding Greenland and established large and viable populations. population in Greenland. Canada geese (Branta canadensis) have moved in from the North American continent, and the current breeding popu- lation numbers probably several thousand pairs. This inva- SOURCES sion has been the focus of several studies because of concern about possible effects of interspecific competi- Records of lesser black-backed gulls in Greenland have tion on the indigenous and discrete population of Green- been published in general avifaunistic works published land white-fronted geese (Anser albifrons flavirostris) through the years (Hørring and Salomonsen, 1941; (Fox et al., 1996; Boertmann and Egevang, 2002; Salomonsen, 1950, 1967; Boertmann, 1994), and many Kristiansen and Jarrett, 2002). However, the establish- records were also published in reports from the Rarity ment in Greenland of the lesser black-backed gull (Larus Committee of the Danish Ornithological Society (Olsen, fuscus), which occurred almost simultaneously, has gone 1987, 1989, 1991). Lesser black-backed gulls were ob- unnoticed. served during extensive ship- and aircraft-based surveys The lesser black-backed gull has shown a remarkable for breeding and moulting seabirds in West and East population increase and range expansion in northwest Greenland over the past 15 years (Boertmann and Mosbech, Europe since the early 1900s (Cramp and Simmons, 1983). 1992, 1999; Boertmann, 1994, 2004; Boertmann et al., 1 Department of Arctic Environment, Aarhus University, National Environmental Research Institute, P.O. Box 358, DK-7000, Roskilde, Denmark; [email protected] © The Arctic Institute of North America 130 • D. BOERTMANN 1996; Gilg, 2005). Long-term monitoring projects in North- island at 74.5˚ N since the summer of 2003 and (at least in east Greenland have also recorded lesser black-backed 2003) attempted breeding (Table 1). Breeding and territo- gulls (Hansen and Meltofte, 2006). In addition to these rial pairs have also been recorded recently at another two published records, the documentation reported here in- small islands in Northeast Greenland (Table 1). No obser- cludes my own observations and many observations re- vations from Southeast Greenland have been published, ported directly to me. Negative information is also relevant but local hunters recognize the species and observe it in this context, and I have been on the lookout for the regularly along all of the coasts (A. Rosing-Asvid, pers. species during all my research in Greenland since 1974. comm. 2006). Moreover, two of the total three band recov- Breeding records were accepted if nests with eggs or eries of birds banded abroad were recovered in southeast chicks were reported or if adults were observed feeding Greenland (Table 1), confirming the occurrence of the chicks. Records of territorial birds without location of species in this part of Greenland. Figure 1 summarizes all nests or chicks are treated here as suspected breeding. the breeding records. Population Size OBSERVATIONS The total number of lesser black-backed gull pairs Until 1984, only six records of lesser black-backed recorded in South Greenland in 2003 is about 600, but the gulls were known from Greenland, all of them from the region was not surveyed systematically (i.e., the first west coast (Table 1). The species was indeed a rare bird known breeding site, where many additional pairs may then: in the summer of 1974, I surveyed extensive coastal have occurred in the area, was not visited). Except for a areas of Southwest Greenland between 60˚ and 64.5˚ N single colony, the numbers in the other core area in the without recording a single sighting (Boertmann, 1979). archipelago, around Nuuk, are unknown; but that colony However, the observations of six adults off the southern may hold at least 100 pairs. A conservative estimate of the tip of Greenland in 1966 (Brown, 1968) were notable total 2003 population in Southwest Greenland is at least exceptions. 700 pairs. However, since the coast between the two core From 1985 onwards, numbers of records increased areas has not been surveyed recently, and there is no rapidly (Table 1). The first breeding record was docu- reason to believe that the lesser black-backed gull should mented in 1990, on the same island in South Greenland be absent there, the breeding population may be consider- where breeding had been suspected as early as 1986 and ably larger. again in 1989 (Table 1). In 1992, the entire coastal region between Paamiut and Disko Bay (62˚ to 69˚ N) was Origin and Subspecies surveyed for breeding seabirds, and lesser black-backed gulls were found at two sites (Table 1). No breeding gulls Band recoveries indicate the origin of the immigrating were observed during that survey in the extensive archi- lesser black-backed gulls. One bird banded as a chick in pelagos to the west of Nuuk (64˚ N), where six years later the Faroe Islands and two birds ringed as immatures in I observed large flocks of the species (up to about 50 England have been recovered in Greenland one to six years individuals) with several breeding pairs. Today, however, later (Lyngs, 2003). But as Iceland is much closer to the region has several breeding colonies holding up to 28 Greenland, many immigrants undoubtedly originate there. pairs, both in the archipelagoes and in the fjordland These birds belong to the pale-mantled northwest Euro- (C. Egevang, pers. comm. 2006). In 2003, during another pean subspecies graelsii. Most sight records also refer to extensive survey for breeding seabirds covering the South this subspecies. However, two reports, one from West Greenland region (60–61˚ N), breeding lesser black-backed Greenland (Fox and Stroud, 1981) and one from East gulls were recorded on at least 20 islands and in colonies Greenland (Ferns, 1978) specifically mention birds with numbering up to 350 pairs, for a total of more than 600 darker mantle and upper wings, which suggests that those pairs (Table 1). birds probably belonged to the subspecies intermedius. Two extensive recent breeding seabird surveys cover- ing the central and northern part of the west coast of Phenology Greenland (69–74˚ N in July 1994 and 67.5–70˚ N in July 2005) failed to find any lesser black-backed gulls The earliest date in the year on which lesser black- (Boertmann et al., 1996; Boertmann, 2006). backed gulls were observed was 12 April, when an adult There are far fewer records from the sparsely populated was observed near Nuuk in West Greenland in 2000 (M. East Greenland (Table 1). Since 2001, however, vagrant Kviesgaard, pers. comm. 2001), and the latest observation lesser black-backed gulls have been observed almost an- date was 2 November, when two juveniles were seen in nually at two research sites in High Arctic Northeast 2005, also near Nuuk (C. Egevang, pers. comm. 2006). In Greenland, and in 2007 they were observed as far north as 2003, recently fledged juveniles still fed by the parent at 81.5˚ N (Table 1). The most recent development is that birds in the breeding colonies were observed in South lesser black-backed gulls have been present on a small Greenland on 28 July, and in 2006, a juvenile with still- THE LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL IN GREENLAND • 131 TABLE 1.
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