Monitoring migration through the Nisutlin River Delta National Wildlife Area – Canadian Geographic
Apr 27, 2026
Tales from the Teslin Lake Bird Observatory, whose members enthusiastically observe, log and band the birds that pass through this massive freshwater delta
Come July in the Nisutlin River Delta National Wildlife Area — the largest inland freshwater delta in south-central Yukon — moose lead their gangly-legged calves into the mudflats to browse on willows. Swans, geese and ducks bob on the shallow water, tipping bottom-side up to “grub,” feeding on aquatic vegetation. The freshwater delta pulses with life. At dusk, little brown myotis (bats) flit through the sky, feasting on mosquitoes, while warblers forage restlessly in the willows, searching for caterpillars. Eight species of freshwater fish, including whitefish and northern pike, can be pulled from the depths of Nisutlin Bay.
For thousands of years, this abundance — finned, feathered and furred — has sustained the Teslin Tlingit First Nation. Teslin Lake derives its name from tás ten, which means “long sewing sinew” in the Tlingit language — a phrase that accurately describes the extended, narrow lake that threads for 148 kilometres. Indeed, the Teslin Tlingit Council has always understood the Nisutlin River delta’s ecological and cultural importance and pushed to protect 5,480 hectares while maintaining traditional hunting and subsistence rights under their land claim.
