Bird Monitoring Project

Climate change has been impacting the animals that are found in Nunavik and where they go, which is especially true for birds. We began this project because of community concerns about changes in bird presence in certain areas and unfamiliar species appearing.

The Marralik-Ungunniavik region, where we lead an ongoing beluga project, is an important habitat that provides for many birds during the nesting season, molt and migration. Changes in bird distribution, including new species, and abundance have been observed in recent decades by Nunavimmiut visiting the area. This multi-year project seeks to document and understand these changes. This project is done in collaboration with the Kuujjuaq Niqliit Board and the Kangiqsualujjuaq Anguvigaq, along with support from Avataq Cultural Institute, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Birds Canada, and McGill University.

Since 2023, researchers, harvesters, and youth participants have been collecting bird observations through the SIKU app during the annual Inuit Knowledge Youth Camp taking place in Marralik-Ungunniavik. To complement visual observations, our team also started to monitor birds using audio recorders distributed along the coast between Kuujjuaq and Kangiqsualujjuaq in the summer of 2025. By recording from April until October, the recorders will help cover an extended area and period of time, including spring and fall migration. The observations and recordings will provide information on which and when species are present in the area, and how many there are. They will also contribute, along with other data sources, to create a book about birds found in the Ungava Bay area

Collecting this information is the first step to help understand changes in bird distribution observed by Nunavimmiut in the area, but also more widely throughout Nunavik.