Lead Institution(s): Enviornment and Climate Change Canada
Collaborator(s): Dan Esler (SFU), Tim Bowman (USFWS)
Focal Species: Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)
Project Description: This project helps fill some of the more important information needs for BAGO noted in the latest SDJV Strategic Plan, namely population delineation, population dynamics and population ecology. We marked individuals with satellite transmitters to quantify several important demographic attributes, including seasonal connectivity, site fidelity and dispersal rates. Connectivity among annual cycle stages, rates of site fidelity at all stages, and the geographic scale of dispersal are largely unknown for Pacific Barrow’s Goldeneye (BAGO). This precludes managers and researchers from identifying demographically discrete units for population management, and for understanding the scale of inference from field studies. Further, habitats and specific sites that may be particularly important for BAGO are difficult to identify, as this species is not well covered by surveys for most of its annual cycle and most of its range. This project takes advantage of a relatively large number of satellite transmitters (PTTs) provided by USFWS to study the annual cycle and ecology of BAGOs wintering in Prince William Sound AK. It complements similar studies on BAGOs in BC (
SDJV Project #85) and Alberta (
SDJV Project #116).
SDJV114_FinalReport_FY12
SDJV114_InterimReport_FY11
SDJV114_InterimReport_FY10
SDJV114_InterimReport_FY09
Related Publications
Forstner, T. M., W. S. Boyd, D. Esler, and D. J. Green. 2023. Dispersal of juvenile Barrow’s goldeneyes (Bucephala islandica) mirrors that of breeding adults. Movement Ecology 11:62. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-023-00423-z
Forstner, T. M., W. S. Boyd, D. Esler, T. D. Bowman, J. L. Schamber, M. McAdie, J. E. Thompson, and D. J. Green. 2022. Migratory connectivity and variation in migration phenology within the Pacific population of Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica). Avian Conservation and Ecology 17(2):7. https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-02195-170207
Kemp, J., W. S. Boyd, T. M. Forstner, D. Esler, T.D. Bowman, D.C. Douglas, D. Hogan, M. McAdie, J.E. Thompson, M. Willie, D.J. Green. 2023. Pacific Barrow’s Goldeneye refine migratory phenology in response to overwintering temperatures and annual snowmelt. Ornithology 140: ukad024. https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukad024
Willie, M., D. Esler, W. S. Boyd, T. Bowman, J. Schamber, and J. Thompson. 2020. Annual winter site fidelity of Barrow’s Goldeneyes in the Pacific. The Journal of Wildlife Management 84:161–171. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21767
