Lead Institution(s): Massachusetts Audubon
Project Lead: Taber Allison
Collaborator(s): Simon Perkins (MA), Giancarlo Sadoti (MA)
Focal Species: All Sea Ducks, Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola), Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica), Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus), Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis), Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), King Eider (Somateria spectabilis), Spectacled Eider (Somateria fischeri), Steller’s Eider (Polysticta stelleri), Common Merganser (Mergus merganser), Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus), Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator), Black Scoter (Melanitta americana), Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata), White-winged Scoter (Melanitta delgandi)
Project Description: The primary objective of this project is to conduct multiple aerial surveys along a defined transect grid in Nantucket Sound during the winter months to estimate relative abundance and distribution of wintering ducks and seabirds and annual and/or seasonal variation of abundance and distribution. Surveys were meant to address the following questions: 1) Does the relative abundance of the different duck species significantly fluctuate from year to year; 2) Does the location of duck rafts shift annually throughout the Sound or do rafts occur in similar locations in consecutive years; and 3) Are the seasonal patterns of waterfowl relative abundance consistent from year to year?
SDJV57_InterimReport_FY05
SDJV57_InterimReport_FY06
Related Publications
Smith, A., B. Hofner, J. S. Lamb, J. Osenkowski, T. Allison, G. Sadoti, S. R. McWilliams, and P. Paton. 2019. Modeling spatiotemporal abundance of mobile wildlife in highly variable environments using boosted GAMLSS hurdle models. Ecology and Evolution 9:2346–2364. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4738
