Pectoral sandpipers from South America. Long-billed dowitchers from Mexico. Long-tailed ducks from New England. What do these birds have in common? They all summer in Alaska鈥檚 Teshekpuk Lake region. Here, the migrants mate, build nests, lay eggs, and rear chicks.

WCS scientists have been summering here on the North Slope, too. Over a four-year period, they鈥檝e found the region to hold the highest density of breeding birds in .

鈥淭eshekpuk Lake is in the middle of the world鈥檚 biggest Arctic wetland, and thus at the heart of an international migration of shorebirds, waterfowl, loons, and songbirds that nest in this highly productive region during the short summer,鈥� said WCS conservation zoologist Steve Zack. 鈥淭his study makes clear how valuable this region is to breeding birds.鈥�

The area is remote, but these birds aren鈥檛 alone. About 70,000 come to deliver their next generation here, too. Tens of thousands of geese also flock to the North Slope during the warmer months so they can molt.

In addition to comparing the Teshekpuk breeding area with six other sites in Arctic Alaska, WCS monitored nests 150 miles to the east in the Prudhoe Bay region. Here, where the birds share their nest sites with energy development activities, fewer chicks survived compared with the Teshekpuk site.

The Bureau of Land Management is currently evaluating ways to balance wildlife protection and future energy development in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). For the last decade鈥攁nticipating the arrival of oil and gas interests鈥擶CS has been identifying areas where wildlife protection would be most effective.

Last summer, the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area caught a lucky break. The Bureau of Land Management withdrew considerations for allowing oil and gas extraction there for the next decade. WCS conservationists and other scientists familiar with the region are urging for its permanent protection. The results of the study will help inform BLM鈥檚 decision-making process.

鈥淭his is the first study to investigate breeding bird densities and measure how well birds are able to produce young in this remote and important region near Teshekpuk Lake,鈥� said the study's lead author, WCS鈥檚 Joe Liebezeit. 鈥淲e found that the density of nesting birds was markedly higher compared to many other sites in Arctic Alaska.鈥�