Ecology and Population Affiliations of Molting and Fall Staging Barrow’s Goldeneye at Cardinal Lake, Alberta

Project Number: 116

Year Funded: 2009

Lead Institution(s): Ducks Unlimited Canada

Project Lead: Jonathan Thompson

Email:

Collaborator(s): Dan Esler (SFU) Sean Boyd (CWS), Danica Hogan (SFU)

Location: Alberta

Focal Species: Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)

Project Description: As a result of recent post-breeding waterfowl surveys and satellite telemetry research, several sites used intensively by molting and fall staging Barrow’s Goldeneye (BAGO) were discovered in the Peace Parklands of northern Alberta. Most post-breeding BAGO were found on Cardinal Lake where fall numbers exceeded 4000 birds, placing this lake among the most important post-breeding sites currently recognized for this species. As a result of our work in 2009, a nearby site, Leddy Lake, was discovered to be hosting nearly 2000 post-breeding BAGO. The discovery of these significant post-breeding sites provides an important and readily accessible opportunity to investigate the poorly understood molting and fall staging ecology of this species. Furthermore, the ability to capture and mark large numbers of BAGO will help advance recent efforts to develop a better understanding of population structure and cross-seasonal habitat affiliations within the Pacific population of BAGO. Finally, it is also important to recognize that Bruce Power is considering several sites in the Cardinal Lake area as potential locations for western Canada’s first nuclear power plant. It is essential to better understand the ecology of post-breeding BAGO in the Peace Parklands to accurately predict or assess the impacts of this proposed development on this species. Through a combination of surveys, captures, an array of weights and measures, VHF telemetry, and satellite telemetry, we are addressing a suite of objectives related to the ecology of the remigial molt and fall staging periods, the importance of Cardinal Lake, and the remigial molt stage in the context of population delineation and population dynamics throughout the annual cycle.

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