Birds of Sable Island   

(November 2002; revised February 2007)

Text and images Zoe Lucas © 2007

During the last 100 years a wide variety of birds – more than 330 species – have been reported from Sable Island. Some of these were first records for Nova Scotia, Canada or North America. As well as “rare birds”, the species list for Sable Island includes breeding birds, common migrants and regular vagrants.

Until the late 19th century, interest in the birds of Sable Island was largely limited to those species useful as sources of meat, eggs, or feathers. Study of the island's birds began in 1894 with a visit by the well-known naturalist Jonathan Dwight, Jr. Subsequently records were kept by the family of R.J. Bouteillier – superintendent on Sable Island from 1884 to 1912 – but following their departure, accounts were only occasional and often casual. Not until 1963, with the arrival of full-time residents Norman and Christel Bell, were observations systematically recorded. Since then, interested residents and visitors, and some scientists and students working on the island, have provided accounts of bird life. Research on Sable Island birds has been ongoing since the 1960s. Many aspects of Ipswich Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis princeps biology have been investigated (e.g. McLaren 1968; Stobo 1973; Stobo & McLaren 1975; Ross 1979; and Smith et al. 2002). The breeding biology of Herring Larus argentatus and Great Black-backed Gulls L. marinus (Lock 1973), and of the Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla (Miller 1977), were the subjects of doctoral research.

Sable is not an important migratory corridor for terrestrial bird species (e.g. wood warblers and thrushes). It is probable that many of the common migrant land birds and most of the "rare birds” observed on the island are actually off course from their regular routes. However, Sable is considered significant for migrating shorebirds and several marine species.

During spring and more so in autumn, many hundreds of shorebirds are found at the water's edge along the north and south beaches and on the sandflats around saltwater Lake Wallace. Among the most numerous are Black-bellied Pluvialis squatarola and American Golden P. dominica Plovers, Semipalmated Plover Charadrius semipalmatus, Greater Tringa melanoleuca and Lesser T. flavipes Yellowlegs, Red Knot Calidris canutus, Sanderling C. alba, and Semipalmated C. pusilla and White-rumped Sandpipers C. fuscicollis. Feeding on polychaete worms, and also small amphipods, these shorebirds sometimes remain in the area for two or three weeks, accumulating resources before beginning their extensive travels to and from wintering grounds.

In 1970 and 1971 Sable Island was used as a monitoring site in a study of migrating shorebirds (Burton 1974). Using returns from fifteen species captured and banded on the island, as well as data on bird weight, and dates of arrivals and departures combined with weather records, researchers were able to learn much about the southward migration of shorebirds in eastern North America. Among the many shorebirds scampering at the waters edge and on the sandflats, banded individuals are occasionally noticed. An example is a Semipalmated Sandpiper seen in August 1995, feeding on the flats near Lake Wallace. It had been banded as an adult at Coroa do Aviao Island, Itamaraca, Pernambuco, Brazil, in April 1990.

In 1981, Ian McLaren wrote: "Sable Island is certainly one of the best localities in eastern North America for the occurrence of vagrant species". Vagrant birds are those species whose presence in the region is considered abnormal because they are north or east of their normal breeding or migratory ranges in North America, or from even further away (e.g. Eurasia, South America). One of the most interesting vagrants was a Black-tailed Gull Larus crassirostris seen during the summers of 1997 through 1999. Although the normal breeding range for this Asiatic species is the northern coasts and islands of the Sea of Japan bordering eastern Siberia, China and both islands of Japan, the Black-tailed Gull is a rare but increasingly frequent visitor to North America. Other interesting sightings include birds that have arrived with storms and hurricanes. Following Tropical Storms Bonnie (August 1998) and Wilma (October 2005) a number of “southern” and unseasonable birds were scattered about the island – including, in 1998, a Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus which stayed for several weeks, feeding at the freshwater ponds.

Thirteen bird species now nest regularly on Sable Island – Leach's Storm-petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa; four ducks (Mallard Anas platyrhynchos, Black Duck A. rubripes, Northern Pintail A. acuta and Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator); two shorebirds (Spotted Sandpiper Actitis macularia and Least Sandpiper); two gulls (Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls); two terns (Common Sterna hirundo and Arctic S. paradisaea); Starling Sturnus vulgaris, and Ipswich Sparrow. Nesting Green-winged Teal A. crecca, Laughing Gull L. atricilla, Black-legged Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla and Catbird Dumetella carolinensis are sighted occasionally. Roseate Terns S. dougallii and Semipalmated Plover also nested, and may still do so in small numbers – adults of both species have been sighted on the island, as recently as summer 2006, during their nesting periods. Gulls, terns and Ipswich Sparrows are the most numerous and widespread of the nesting birds on Sable Island.

A comprehensive review of historical records for Sable Island, and of sightings and research up to 1979, (covering 324 species) is provided by McLaren (1981). The following account, illustrating ninety-eight species on Sable, is based on observations made by ZL since the mid-1980s. The beached seabird surveys, underway since 1993, have provided an opportunity to examine specimens that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. The numbers of birds recorded here give only a very rough idea of relative abundance. Without doing systematic counts, it is difficult to distinguish between the comings and goings of breeding and migrating individuals of the same species, and to know if sightings of, for example, individual falcons or flocks of finches at different locations are different birds or just the same bird or flock moving about on the island. Thus, overall, the numbers in this account are conservative. It’s likely that some species are considerably underrepresented by the totals presented here.

Click on thumbnails for more information

Additional Reading

McLaren, I.A. 1981. The Birds of Sable Island. Proceedings of the Nova Scotia Institute of Science 31: 1-84.

Tufts, R.W. 1986. Birds of Nova Scotia. Nimbus Publishing Limited and The Nova Scotia Museum, 3rd edition.

For a list of articles, see Bibliography: Birds.

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