Survival of the St. Lawrence estuary common eiders

Project Number: 30

Year Funded: 2007

Lead Institution(s): University of Quebec Montreal

Project Lead: Jean-Francois Giroux

Email:

Collaborator(s): Jean-Pierre Savard (ECCC), Gilles Gauthier (UL), Stephane Lair (UM), Andre Dallaire (UM), Jean Bedard (SDL), Marc Lapointe (SPEE)

Location: Quebec

Focal Species: Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)

Project Description: Despite intensive management of nesting habitat in several colonies of the St. Lawrence River estuary (SLE), the population of Common Eiders has not increased. Recurrent epizootics of avian cholera and suspected high harvest levels are the most obvious limiting factors but their relative importance on the population dynamics is currently unknown. In 2007, we continued our banding program of adult females nesting on the SLE islands by capturing them with dip nets. Oral swabs were collected on a sub-sample of birds caught in different colonies to assess the prevalence of Pasteurella multocida, the bacteria responsible for avian cholera.