Page 38 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

INTRODUCTION

THE FAR NORTH

n the winter, the far north is a dark, frozen, and barren
Iplace. However, by late spring the snow is melting, the
days are starting to get very long, and insects and their larvae
abound in myriad pools.These far northern regions, with
their summer food bonanza, attract millions of birds.They
are all dependent on the Arctic during the summertime but
PTARMIGAN
are unable to survive there at other times of the year. Only In winter the Ptarmigan turns white to match its
such hardy species as the Ptarmigan can remain in the far surroundings. Its feet are densely feathered to help
north all year round, the rest will appear farther south as it to avoid heat loss; they also act as “snow shoes”.
migrants or winter visitors.

THE COAST AND ARCTIC TUNDRA
OPEN SEA Open tundra is bleak and exposed
The sea is rich in invertebrate food and as it is beyond the northern limits
fish so seabirds and ducks abound on of tree growth. It is a very tough
many of the northern coasts.This is an environment for birds but its dwarf
exciting area, as birds that are rare in shrubs provide seeds and shoots
Europe head north as food for Ptarmigan, which
ARCTIC TERN
and east into Siberia are widespread on broad, rocky
The broad, stony tundra slopes
in spring, and others ridges.These ridges are also nesting of larger islands and headlands
that are essentially places for Snowy Owls. Small cliffs are ideal for nesting Arctic Terns.
Arctic species appear may have nesting birds of prey,
in a handful of which survive on rodents and
sheltered bays on birds, but they usually have to
the fringes of their move south in winter. Skuas
normal range. In that nest around the Arctic,
FULMAR Europe, this is the feeding mostly on lemmings, are
Fulmars nest on cliffs, one small patch of purely summer visitors. It is the
occupying small, land and sea that ability to feed in perpetual
earthy ledges. They has the character summer daylight, and the close
need access to the
open sea, where they of the Arctic, so proximity of many pools, that
often feed around it sees some of its draws geese and waders to nest
fishing boats. great birds. on the higher ridges.
WHOOPER SWANS
This is the swan of northern lakes, bogs,
and river deltas. The Bewick’s Swan, on
the other hand, breeds around more
open, exposed tundra pools.

NORTHERN FJORDS
Sheltered bays and cold water full of fish offer
security and food for seabirds and wildfowl
in what is otherwise the bleak and windswept
far northern tip of Europe.

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