The coastal zone is a primary migration corridor and critical staging area for many western hemisphere shorebirds. It is also a major breeding area for some species. The decline of breeding populations of semipalmated sandpiper and red-necked phalarope at La Pérouse Bay is directly correlated with the vegetation loss and the elimination of sedge and grass associations in which nests of these species are located. It also appears that soil changes associated with devegetation inhibit larval insect growth and survival, thus reducing shorebird food resources. Other species of particular concern are yellow rails, for which this coastline is a continental concentration area, stilt sandpipers, dowitchers, Hudsonian godwits, whimbrels and several species of ducks including American wigeon, northern shoveller, red-breasted merganser and old squaw. On Akimiski Island, in James Bay, a small and isolated eastern population of marbled godwits appears to have declined.
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revised - 12/18/02