Ecology of common eider ducks wintering in association with sea ice, Belcher Islands, Nunavut

Project Number: 29

Year Funded: 2003

Lead Institution(s): Canadian Wildlife Service

Project Lead: Grant Gilchrist

Email:

Collaborator(s): Greg Robertson (CWS), Keith Hobson (CWS), Jon Grant (Dalhousie U), Lucassie Arragutainaq, SHTA, CWS, SFU, DU

Location: Nunavut

Focal Species: Common Eider (Somateria mollissima)

Project Description: Several circumpolar sea duck species spend part of their year wintering in association with sea ice. Limited information suggests that this makes them vulnerable to mass starvation events during winter and migration. The frequency and magnitude of these die-offs, and their impact on sea duck population dynamics are unknown. The Hudson Bay Common Eider duck population winters in the Belcher Islands of Hudson Bay, and experienced a population decline of 75% during a heavy ice year in 1991-92. This project assessed the vulnerability of the Hudson Bay eider population to winter starvation events. Specifically, it quantified 1) the physical characteristics of polynyas and floe edge habitats in the Belcher Islands, 2) their use by sea ducks, Inuit hunters, and benthic invertebrates (e.g. urchins and mussels), 3) harvest levels and non-lethal human disturbance at polynyas, and 4) biotic and abiotic constraints to eiders that may limit their foraging efficiency and result in starvation (e.g. winter temperatures, tidal current velocity, day length).

Project Reports:

SDJV29 Interim Report FY03

Related Publications

Wayland, M., H. G. Gilchrist, T. Marchant, J. Keating, and J. E. Smits. 2002. Immune Function, Stress Response, and Body Condition in Arctic-Breeding Common Eiders in Relation to Cadmium, Mercury, and Selenium Concentrations. Environmental Research 90:47–60. https://doi.org/10.1006/enrs.2002.4384

Wayland, M., J.E.G. Smits, H.G. Gilchrist, T. Marchant, J. Keating. 2003. Biomarker Responses in Nesting, Common Eiders in the Canadian Arctic in Relation to Tissue Cadmium, Mercury and Selenium Concentrations. Ecotoxicology 12: 225-237. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022506927708

Wayland, M., H.G. Gilchrist, D.L. Dickson, T. Bollinger, C. James, R.A. Carreno, J. Keating. 2001. Trace Elements in King Eiders and Common Eiders in the Canadian Arctic. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 41: 491–500. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002440010276

Robertson, G. J., A. Reed, and H. G. Gilchrist. 2001. Clutch, egg and body size variation among common eiders breeding in Hudson Bay, Canada. Polar Research 20:85–94. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-8369.2001.tb00041.x

Wayland, M., A. J. Garcia-Fernandez, E. Neugebauer, and H. G. Gilchrist. 2001. Concentrations of Cadmium, Mercury and Selenium in Blood, Liver and Kidney of Common Eider Ducks from the Canadian Arctic. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 71:255–267. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1011850000360

Jamieson, S. E., G. J. Robertson, and H. G. Gilchrist. 2001. Autumn and Winter Diet of Long-Tailed Duck in the Belcher Islands, Nunavut, Canada. Waterbirds: The International Journal of Waterbird Biology 24:129–132. https://doi.org/10.2307/1522253

Robertson, G. J., and H. G. Gilchrist. 1998. Evidence of Population Declines among Common Eiders Breeding in the Belcher Islands, Northwest Territories. Arctic 51:378–385. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40511856

Gilchrist, H. G., and G. J. Robertson. 2000. Observations of Marine Birds and Mammals Wintering at Polynyas and Ice Edges in the Belcher Islands, Nunavut, Canada. Arctic 53:61–68. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40511883

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Ecology of common eider ducks wintering in association with sea ice, Belcher Islands, Nunavut