Nunavut wildlife board ponders fate of threatened shore bird

The red-necked phalarope’s ranged extends across Nunavut. (COSEWIC IMAGE)

Officials with the federal environment department want to list the red-necked phalarope as a species of “Special Concern” under the Species at Risk Act. (COSEWIC IMAGE)

You might not know the red-necked phalarope by name, but the small wading bird breeds in all three regions of Nunavut during the summer months.

And Environment and Climate Change Canada is asking Nunavut’s wildlife regulatory board for support in listing the bird as a species of “Special Concern” under the federal Species at Risk Act, according to documents found on the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board’s website.

The wildlife board will hold a written public consultation and accept written input until June 1, an April 1 letter from the board said.

In its proposal to the board, Environment Canada said the bird was listed as a species of special concern by the Committee of the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, or COSEWIC, in November 2014.

“The bird has declined over the last 40 years in an important staging area, however overall population trends during the last three generations are unknown,” Environment Canada said in its proposal to the Nunavut board.

The proposal did not say what staging area or provide any other information on the bird’s population.

But COSEWIC submitted its recommendation to the Environment Canada minister in October 2015; the minister then extended the consultation period until October 2016.

The red-necked phalarope falls within the sandpiper family of shorebirds.

The interesting thing about these birds is that the usual sex roles are reversed, according to the Audubon Society’s website. Females are larger and more colourful and they take the lead in courtship. And it’s the males who remain at the nest to incubate eggs and care for the young.

Because the red-necked phalarope is found in every Canadian jurisdiction, the federal agency is required to consult a long list of provincial and territorial government agencies as well as Aboriginal organizations.

In Nunavut, Environment Canada said it sent consultation packages to every community except for Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay, which fall outside of the bird’s breeding grounds.

The consultation packages, sent to local hunters and trappers organizations as well as regional wildlife boards, included a letter, a narrated Powerpoint presentation and a questionnaire asking if the community opposed, supported or is indifferent to the proposed listing, according to Environment Canada.

So far, only the community of Taloyoak responded by saying “indifferent,” Environment Canada said.

If the red-necked phalarope is listed under schedule 1 one of the Species at Risk Act, a management plan must be prepared within three years.

Those interested in submitting comments to the NWMB can contact the board by calling 975-7300 or by email at receptionist@nwmb.com.