Annual cycle connectivity, inter- and intra-annual site fidelity, and habitat use of Pacific Barrow’s Goldeneye

Project Number: 85

Year Funded: 2008

Lead Institution(s): Environment Canada

Project Lead: Sean Boyd

Email:

Collaborator(s): CWS, PWF

Location: British Columbia

Focal Species: Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica)

Project Description: This project involved deploying over 110 satellite transmitters on Barrow’s Goldeneye in British Columbia to answer the following questions: 1) What are the rates, and geographic scale, of inter-annual site fidelity by different sex and age classes at various stages of the annual cycle (i.e., winter, breeding, molt)?) 2) Do birds from the same breeding site occur in discrete areas during winter, or are they widely distributed, and vice versa? 3) How do the answers to 1 and 2 above combine to indicate demographically distinct management units? And 4) Are there important habitats or specific sites that are used by a large proportion of marked birds, which would indicate their value for conservation?

Project Reports:

SDJV85 Interim Report FY08
SDJV85 Interim Report FY09
SDJV85 Interim Report FY10

Related Publications

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

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

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

Lewis, T. L., D. Esler, D. H. Hogan, W. S. Boyd, T. D. Bowman, and J. Thompson. 2020. Reliability of External Characteristics to Age Barrow’s Goldeneye. Wildlife Society Bulletin 44:654–661. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.1123

Hogan, D., J. E. Thompson, D. Esler, and W. S. Boyd. 2011. Discovery of Important Postbreeding Sites for Barrow’s Goldeneye in the Boreal Transition Zone of Alberta. Waterbirds 34:261–388. https://doi.org/10.1675/063.034.0301

Annual cycle connectivity, inter- and intra-annual site fidelity, and habitat use of Pacific Barrow’s Goldeneye