Current view: Text account
Site description (2001 baseline):
Site location and context
The Thomsen River is located in north-central Banks Island, in the western Arctic. The site covers the river from its mouth at Castel Bay to a point about 60 km upstream. The river flows through a broad valley surrounded by low rolling hills. These hills are dissected by gullies and underlain by sandstones and shales. The river eventually empties into Castel Bay and is surrounded here by deeply cut badland topography. Polar desert and arctic tundra communities dominate the vegetation, with the main types being dwarf shrub, willow-sedge and lichen-legume tundra. Extensive wet sedge meadows are found in the valley bottom of the river. A polynya exists in MClure Strait and open water can appear as early as January or February, that then disappears by July. Muskoxen are commonly found year-round, while Peary Caribou migrate north in late spring, moving to calving grounds in the northeast and northwest parts of the island. Arctic Foxes are common and Polar Bears are occasionally spotted on the northern coast.
Together, the Thomsen River and Castel Bay have hosted up to 5,000 moulting Black Brant (subspecies nigricans) during late summer. This number exceeds 3% of the population of this subspecies, and is also over 1% of the North American Brant population.
Also during the late summer, up to 25,000 Lesser Snow Geese have been reported moulting in the Thomsen River valley. However, it is unknown how consistently the geese use this area for moulting year to year. Surveys in the mid-1970s recorded a maximum of only 1,200 birds in early August, while later reports in 1988 and 1989 found that numbers varied from several hundred to none. Clearly, more surveys are needed to elucidate this situation. Two hundred and fifty Canada Geese have also been recorded moulting on the river.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Moulting geese are generally very susceptible to disturbance. Seismic exploration has taken place throughout the site although the extent of activities at present, and in the future, is unknown.
The Thomsen River is found within the Banks Island Bird Sanctuary No. 2. There is a proposal for a national park to be located on northern Banks Island.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Thomsen River (Canada). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/thomsen-river-iba-canada on 23/11/2024.
