Chapter 18 Marine and Coastal Birds of James Bay, Hudson Bay and Foxe Basin

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the birds of James Bay, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Foxe Basin, and associated waters that are largely arctic in their affinities. There are three broad ecological groups: (1) offshore feeders, (2) inshore feeders, and (3) intertidal species. The distribution of coastal and marine birds is determined by four principal factors: (1) the biological oceanography, which determines the local abundance of food for offshore feeders, (2) the timing and duration of the open water season, which determines the accessibility of the marine ecosystem to the birds, (3) the geomorphological characteristics of the coast, which determine the availability of suitable breeding sites, particularly for colonial seabirds, as well as the location, nature, and food resources of other habitats, especially intertidal ones used during migration, and (4) climatic factors, particularly temperature, which influence the distribution of the breeding birds and the availability and productivity of the habitats upon which they depend during both the breeding and migration phases of their annual cycles.