A few birds from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
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Parasitic Jaeger:Parasitic Jaeger Yungaq Every time I see these hawkish birds, I remember the first ones I ever saw just outside of Hooper Bay in the spring of 1980.They were performing their aerial mating dance, and I marvelled at how gracefully they wheeled and glided and pirouetted like oversize swallows above their breeding territory. I wished I could fly like that. The name I was given in Scammon Bay for the Parasitic jaeger is Yungaq, which refers to its hawk-like qualities. All over the Y-K Delta there is also a generic word, melugyuli, for jaeger. Meaning "the one that sucks," the name refers to the way it preys on the eggs of other birds it finds on the tundra. Where its hawkishness may be admired, this egg-sucking trait is definitely not appreciated, since it competes with the Yupik custom of hunting for the eggs of ducks and geese and other birds in the spring. The common English name for this predatory bird is not English at all. It is German and was taken from the German word "hunter," which originally referred to the wild huntsmen living along the Rhine River who were regarded by the king as plunderers and robbers. Although it may have some hawk-like characteristics, the jaeger is not a hawk at all. Ornithologists place it in the family Laridae, which also includes gulls, terns, skimmers and skuas. The Parasitic jaeger is one of three species of jaeger found in Alaska and on the Y-K Delta, the other two being the Pomarine and Long-tailed jaeger. Its scientific name, Stercorarius parasiticus simply means "parasitic scavenger." Which just goes to show that the scientists who named the bird didn't really appreciate its finer qualities. Not that Yungaq doesn't scavenge, mind you. It does, but in a very special way, aggressively flying after the likes of terns and gulls and causing them to drop fishes or disgorge the contents of their gullets. They then swiftly swoop down and pick up their prize in mid-flight. Got to admire them for that. Most of the scavenging of these jaegers takes place in winter as they follow their Arctic tern and gull cousins south along the coasts of the Pacific and other oceans. During the summer while on their nesting grounds they deftly hover and swoop over the wildflowers of the circumboreal tundra in search of small birds, eggs and rodents, although the Parasitic jaeger is less dependent on lemmings and voles than other species of jaeger. They also hunt on foot, and often I've watched them walk on the tundra pecking at spiders and insects and swallowing berries. As with other large birds, they seem to prefer blueberries and crowberries, which they fatten up on just prior to their migration south. Let's return to that graceful mating dance I referred to above. This is just part of their courtship ritual, which for the male also includes standing as erectly as he can on his nesting ground and calling softly to try to entice the female close enough to feed her a small six- or eight-legged gourmet tidbit. Once feeding takes place a pair bond is cemented that may last many years. In the Arctic, the nesting season is only three months long, so after a brief courting period the pair must quickly get down to business and begin their family. Before anything serious takes place, however, the male selects a nest site on a low mossy hummock, or other slight rise in the open. After his mate scrapes out a shallow depression and lines it sparsely with plant materials such as leaves, lichen and grass, the inevitable happens, and she lays two large spotted olive-green to brown eggs. Unlike the other species of jaegers, Parasitics often nest in small colonies. Whether in colonies or alone, the male vigilantly stands sentinel on the nesting ground while also sharing incubation duty when his mate needs to get a bite to eat. When a predator ventures near, the birds at first vigorously flap their wings, jump around and whimper loudly to try to distract the intruder. If that doesn't do the trick, both birds will aggressively dive bomb him until he leaves the scene. This includes any human intruder, such as me. After almost four weeks of brooding by both parents, the two eggs finally begin to hatch. They do so, however, within two or three days of each other, depending upon when they were laid. This means that one chick is bigger than the other. Since the Arctic is a sparse place to find food, it also means that the smaller chick may be attacked and killed by the older one shortly after hatching. Within a few days after hatching, the remaining chick leaves the nest in search of food with its parents. Both help feed the chick by regurgitation, but it takes almost another month for the young bird to grow enough in size, feathers and muscle to where it can make its first flight. For a few more weeks the young remains with its parents, until finally summer has come to an end and it is time to head for warmer climes. The Pacific Ocean beckons and they heed the call. For those interested in more names, some of the other common English ones for this hunter are: Arctic hawk gull, Arctic skua, black-toed gull, boatswain, gull-chaser, jiddy hawk, man-o'-war, marlinespike, Richardson's jaeger, skait bird, teaser, whip-tail and dung hunter.  |
