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Photo : Georges Paquin
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Purpose: Important breeding area for the Common Eider and numerous
seabirds.
Key Birds: Common Eider, Common Murre, Razorbill, Atlantic Puffin
Key Plants: Balsam fir, lichens, American dune grass.
Partner
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Quebec-Labrador Foundation
505 blvd René-Levesque Ouest, Suite 901
Montréal, Québec, Canada H2Z 1Y7
Phone: (514) 395-6020 Fax : (514) 395-4505
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Property
Status of site: MBS
Type of site: conservation and public activities; seasonal conservation.
Initial acquisition: not available.
Year created: March 9, 1925.
Site administered under:
- Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 (1994, c.22; SOR/96-458 to 464 and SI/96-90 to 92, 30 October 1996).
- Canada Wildlife Act (R.S. (1985) c. W-9, sect. 1; 1994, c. 23, sect. 2(F); SOR/94-684, 7 November 1994; SI/95-42, 5 April 1995)
- Migratory Bird Sanctuary Regulations (C.R.C., c. 1036)
Landowner: Ministère des Richesses naturelles du Québec and Fisheries
and Oceans Canada (Canadian Coast Guard). Agreement: federal-provincial and inter-ministerial agreement for the creation of a Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
Surface area: 3,989.9 ha
Terrestrial: 388.5 ha
Aquatic: 3,601.4 ha
Location
Location: 50.19.00 N 59.39.00 W; east of La Romaine.
Municipality: Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-Saint-Laurent
RCM: Côte-Nord-du-Golfe-Saint-Laurent
Topographic map 1:50 000: 12J/05
Cadastral map 1:20 000: 12J/05
Nautical chart: 4440; 4468
Tourist Region: Duplessis
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Common Murres, Sainte-Marie Island. Photo: Pierre Dupuis.
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Vegetation
As with other sanctuaries located along the North Shore, tundra and stunted conifers cover the greater part of the thirteen islands that make up the
Sainte-Marie group. Rock outcrops and several freshwater ponds are also part of the landscape.
The shrub stratum is represented by balsam fir, black
spruce, Labrador tea, and bog myrtle. Typical ground species include Empetrum sp., various families of lichens (Cladonia, Cetretaria sp., Alectroia sp., etc.), Vaccinium uliginosum, Cornus sp., Betula
sp., Rubus chamaemorus, Maianthemum canadense, Smilacina trifolia, Potentilla tridentata. Arctic-alpine plants are also found, such as Silene
acaulis, Diapensia lapponica, Carex rariflora and Polugonum viviparum. Halophytes account for 20 of the 112 species found on the Îles Sainte-Marie, and include Ligusticum scothicum, Elymus arenarius, Mertensia maritima,
Plantago juncoides and Hierochloe odorata.
Birds
Breeding
The Îles Sainte-Marie provide a breeding site for many species of seabirds. Among those with a limited breeding range in Southern Québec, the Common
Murre is the most abundant nester on the islands, and numbered more than 25 000 in 1993. The Razorbill and the Atlantic Puffin are also notable during
the nesting season, with more than 3 300 and 5 600 individuals respectively. Several other species nest in the Sanctuary, such as the Common Eider, the
Double-crested Cormorant, the Great Cormorant, the Herring Gull, the Great Black-backed Gull, the Common Tern, the Arctic Tern, the Black-legged
Kittiwake, Bonaparte's Gull, the Black Guillemot and the Red-throated Loon.
Apart from seabirds, the islands also host other species, such as the
Savannah Sparrow, the White-crowned Sparrow, the American Pipit, the Horned Lark, the Northern Mockingbird, the Shrike, the American Goldfinch, and large numbers of American Robins.
Mammals
Killer whales have been observed in this part of the river on rare occasions.
The meadow vole, the red fox, the snowshoe hare and even the Arctic fox are found on the islands.
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