 |
|
 |
|
FEATURE: Atlantic and Great Lakes Sea Duck Migration Study
Latest locations of active animals.
Click on individual projects below for more details.
Black Scoter
White-winged ScoterMore than half of North American sea duck populations have apparently declined over the past 2-3 decades, although reasons for declines are unknown. Population delineation (i.e., the links among breeding, molting, wintering, and staging areas) is critical information needed to design and interpret monitoring surveys, to better understand population ecology and population dynamics, and determine limiting factors and potential strategies to improve conservation status of sea ducks. Extensive satellite telemetry studies have been done on several sea duck species on the Pacific coast, but relatively little is known about population delineation for sea ducks in eastern North America, most notably for surf scoter, black scoter, white-winged scoter, and long-tailed duck – all of which are species of particular conservation concern. Sea ducks are one of the primary wildlife species utilizing coastal habitats in the Atlantic during winter.
This project is a large-scale, multi-year, coordinated satellite tracking program for sea ducks along the Atlantic coast and Great Lakes, with the following objectives:
- Fully describe the annual migration patterns for four species of sea ducks (surf scoter, black scoter, white-winged scoter, long-tailed duck) by 2013.
- Quantify the proportion of the flyway population of each of the four focal species that winters within the Great Lakes, north Atlantic, mid-Atlantic, and south Atlantic regions.
- Estimate average length-of-stay during winter in three areas of highest concern relative to wind farms (Maine-Penobscot Bay, Nantucket Sound, and coastal Rhode Island).
- Map local movements of individual radio-marked ducks in three areas slated for placement of wind turbines.
- Estimate rates of annual site fidelity to wintering areas, breeding areas, and molting areas for all four focal species
More than 200 satellite transmitters will be deployed on sea ducks from 2009-2012. The project is funded in part by the Sea Duck Joint Venture and in part by various partners. For more information about this study, go to seaduckjv.org/atlantic_migration_study
AGLSM: Long-tailed Ducks, Cape Cod, MA 2010 |
AGLSM: Black Scoters, Baie des Chaleurs, New Brunswick 2010 |
AGLSM: White-winged Scoters, St. Lawrence Estuary, Quebec 2010 |
|---|
Archived Projects
AGLSM: Long-tailed Ducks, Chesapeake Bay, MD 2010-11 |
AGLSD: Surf Scoters, Iglosjatik, Labrador, 2006 |
|---|