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The Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) of Environment Canada establishes
bird sanctuaries to control and manage areas of importance for the
protection of migratory birds, their nests and eggs. The sanctuaries
can include a range of habitat types such as terrestrial, wetland,
or marine. The CWS
establishes regulations determining what activities can be carried
out within these areas. Prohibited activities include the harassment
or killing of birds, and disturbing, destroying, or possessing nests
or eggs.
Nunavut has an abundance of sites favourable to the migratory habits
of several bird species. In 1999, ten sites are legislated as Migratory
Bird Sanctuaries. One of these, the Queen Maud Gulf Migratory
Bird Sanctuary with an area of 61 765 square kilometres, is
the largest in Canada. You can click on the "get statistics"
button to find the location of the other Migratory Bird Sanctuaries
of Nunavut. Their names are Akimiski Island, Bylot Island, Cape
Dorset, Dewey Soper, East Bay, Harry Gibbons, McConnell River, Prince
Leopold Island and Seymour Island. From approximately
mid-May to mid-September, each of these Migratory Bird Sanctuaries
shows off the bird life on a most impressive scale, welcoming birds
by the hundreds of thousands. Examples are at Dewey Soper (450 000
Snow Geese), McConnell River (300 000 Snow Geese and Ross’s Geese)
and Prince Leopold Island (375 000 seabirds). Migration is a fact
of life for birds in Nunavut: only the Raven, Gyrfalcon, Willow
Ptarmigan and Iceland Gull are adapted for spending the whole year
in the austere Arctic environment.
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