Quill Lakes (11491)
Canada, North America
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: D1a
Year of last assessment: 2008
National site name: Quill Lakes
Central coordinates: Latitude: 51.9010, Longitude: -104.3305
System: freshwater, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 516 to 516
Area of KBA (km2): 726.50567
Protected area coverage (%): 80.60
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: The Quill Lakes are located immediately north of the town of Wynard in east-central Saskatchewan. The lakes are named (from west to east): Big Quill, Middle Quill (or Mud), and Little Quill Lakes. Middle Quill Lake is the smallest, while Big Quill is the largest - in fact the largest saline lake in Canada. During periods of high water levels, the lakes drain from west to east. The lakes, however, do not have an outlet. All three lakes are extremely shallow, such that any fluctuation of water level, or influence of the wind, can cause great differences in even the day-to-day location of the shoreline. The muddy and gravelly lakeshores are surrounded by grasslands, aspen parkland, and numerous freshwater marshes.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs.
Additional biodiversity: The lakes, Big Quill Lake in particular, support an exceptional number of breeding Piping Plovers. Over the last five years there has been an average of 284 birds observed (almost 7.5% of the global population, and over 25% of the Canadian northern Great Plains population). In 1996, 435 plovers were recorded, which was the largest breeding concentration in the world. During fall migration, the globally threatened Whooping Crane is also regularly observed at this site. The Quill Lakes are also significant as a shorebird staging area (especially during the spring) with a one day peak count of 197,155 shorebirds being recorded during the spring of 1993. During a 1989-1992 study, several species were recorded in numbers (one day peak count averages) that exceeded 1% of their biogeographical populations, including Hudsonian Godwit, Least Sandpiper, Bairds Sandpiper, American Avocet and dowitcher. Especially large numbers of White-rumped Sandpipers (as much as 2% of their global population) and Stilt Sandpipers (as much as 8.9% of their global population) were also noted. The Quill Lakes are also known as an important waterfowl breeding and staging area with hundreds of thousands of ducks, Sandhill Cranes (1.8% of their global population), Canada Geese, and Snow Geese using the area each fall.
Delineation rationale: 2011-06-06 (BL Secretariat): site area updated from 61900 ha to 72000 ha, following GIS analysis of site polygon by Bird Studies Canada (J. Moore & S. Marquez in litt. 2009).
Habitats
Land use: hunting | nature conservation and research | rangeland/pastureland | tourism/recreation | urban/industrial/transport
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Wetlands(Inland) | 90 | |
| Grassland | 10 |