Twin Islands (Nunavut)
Geography
Approximately 11 km (6.8 mi) separate the two islands. North Twin Island, 157 km (61 sq mi), 18.5 km (11.5 mi) by 11 km (6.8 mi), to the northwest, is the larger of the two. South Twin Island measures 12.8 km (8.0 mi) by 10.2 km (6.3 mi). Landscape characteristics include, unconsolidated sand, gravel, lakes, marshland, sand dunes, and wide tidal flats.
Notable landmarks include Cotter Point on North Twin, and Lucy Point on South Twin.
Flora
The habitat includes small stands of trees: dwarf birch, juniper, white spruce, and willows, along with heaths and shrubs.
Conservation
The Twin Islands are a Canadian Important Bird Area (#NU034), an International Biological Program site (Site 6–2), and a Key Terrestrial Migratory Bird Site (NU Site 56). The Twin Islands Wildlife Sanctuary is part of the James Bay Preserve.
Avifauna
Notable bird species include: American pipit, Arctic tern, Canada goose, dunlin, eastern white-crowned sparrow, horned lark, Lapland longspur, least sandpiper, purple sandpiper, red-necked phalarope, Savannah sparrow, semipalmated plover, semipalmated sandpiper, waterfowl, and willow ptarmigan.
Polar bears frequent the area.
References
- ^ Kataquapit, Xavier (23 May 2008). "Waking up with the gulls". beesum-communications.com. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
- ^ "Twin Islands". oceandots.com. Archived from the original on December 23, 2010. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "NU Site 56 - Twin Islands" (PDF). ngps.nt.ca. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
- ^ "Twin Islands". bsc-eoc.org. Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
- ^ "BirdLife IBA Factsheet". BirdLife International. 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-07.