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The decline of the Thick-billed Murre in Greeland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Peter Evans  and
George Waterston
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Extract

The total breeding population of the Thick-billed Murre (Brünnich's Guillemot)Uria lomvia in west Greenland in 1951 was estimated to amount to two million pairs (Salomonsen, 1951), half of which inhabit the gigantic loomery at Kap Shackleton (Agparssuit) (Fig 1). Tuck (1960) considered this to be a conservative estimate, ‘and cannot concede that fewer than five million Thick-billed Murres inhabit the west coast of Greenland during the summer months’. The birds have long been considered an important food source by the inhabitants of the area. Rink (in Salomonsen, 1951, p 378) recorded a harvest of 70 000 birds as long ago as 1850; with the advent of modern shotguns and cheap ammunition the toll is now severe (Fig 2). As a result of shooting and disturbance population decreases have been recorded at various sites, but particularly those close to settlements (Table 1). In addition to the colonies listed in the table, a count was made in 1921 for the Sagdleq colony in the Umánaq district. An estimated 500 000 birds were recorded which, in 1949, had decreased to 250 000. In 1968 the Umánaq district legislated for total preservation of this colony for three years.

Type
Field Work
Information
Polar Record , Volume 18 , Issue 114 , September 1976 , pp. 283 - 287
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

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