Thawing snowfields and pollution could make nesting sites and food sources unsuitable for the bird, researcher Alexey Yezhov told RIA Novosti.
The population of Ross’s gulls, a rare species that nests in remote parts of the Arctic, could be threatened by sharp climate changes, melting snowfields and pollution, Alexey Yezhov told RIA Novosti. Yezhov is a senior researcher at the Kandalaksha Nature Reserve and a chief specialist at the Murmansk Region’s Directorate of Specially Protected Natural Areas.
Heavy snowmelt, rivers overflowing their banks and waterlogging could alter the places where the birds nest, the scientist said. If those areas become unsuitable, the gulls may stop nesting there and leave their customary sites.
Pollutants carried into the environment by large rivers pose another risk. Insects and their larvae respond to environmental changes first. They form the basis of the Ross’s gull’s diet, so a decline in this food supply could leave the birds without enough to eat.
Yezhov said Ross’s gull is not currently listed in Russia’s Red Book and has not been assigned a status indicating that it is threatened. Scientists cannot give an exact population count for the Arctic, however, because the nesting grounds are remote and difficult to reach. They count the birds at nesting sites, since the gulls are widely dispersed at other times. Official estimates range from 15,000 to 70,000 individuals.
The species lives mainly in the eastern part of northern Siberia and nests in the deltas of major rivers, including the Lena and Indigirka. Small colonies also occur on archipelagos in northern Canada, and nests have been found in Svalbard and Greenland.
English polar explorer James Ross first saw a Ross’s gull in northern Canada on July 2, 1823. According to the historical account cited by RIA Novosti, the bird appeared when the sailors had despaired of finding a route through the ice. Since then, sailors have regarded the species as a sign of good fortune.