Seabird breeding colonies in Greenland
The Department of Arctic Environment maintains a database over the breeding colonies in Greenland. These are sites along the coast, where seabirds gather to nest and raise their young in dense gatherings. Typically the colonies are situated on steep inaccessible cliffs or on low and remote islands.
A breeding colony for Brünnich's Guillemot near Nuuk.
The database is prepared in coorporation with the Zoological Museum of Copenhagen and Ornis Consult Ltd. All the information that we have been able to track regarding site, species composition and bird numbers, both published and unpublished is included, and the oldest information dates back to the late 19th century. The database is updated every year with information gatered by ourselves, other researchers and ornithologists working in Greenland. In 1992 and 1994 Dep. of Arctic Environment carried out surveys for seabird colonies in West Greenland covering the region between 62º N and 74º 30'N (see NERI Technical Report no. 170).
The largest seabird colony in West Greenland, at Cape Scackleton, was surveyed in 1994.
The database will be an important tool for future monitoring of the breeding seabirds in Greenland. It will also provide information to oil spill sensitivity mapping in Greenland.
The database is only available in a Danish text version:
Map of the extant and extinct breeding colonies of Brünnich's guillemot in Western Greenland, prepared with information from the database. The symbols show number of individuals at each site.