New Longevity Record for Surf Scoters
An 18ft aluminum boat glides quietly over the waves with five good friends on board. The sun is high, the sea is calm, and there is a gentle breeze. The group of hunters sit, intently watching their decoys bob and surf the light ocean waves, waiting for the silhouette of a sea duck. Suddenly, a small group of Surf Scoters passed over the decoys. Hunter, the owner of Garden State Goose Chaser and the boat’s captain takes aim, fires, and misses – twice. But on the third shot, he connects with a drake Surf Scoter. After retrieving the bird, the group notices a paper-thin aluminum band on the bird’s leg, which is a bit of a surprise given how rarely Hunter has seen banded Surf Scoters. Later, through the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory, he learned he had harvested the oldest Surf Scoter on record.
The 22-year-old Surf Scoter after harvest. You can see the band on the bird’s right leg.
Hunter began waterfowl hunting with his father when he was eight, starting with Canada Geese. He continued hunting waterfowl with his family and friends in coastal New Jersey until he enlisted in the Coast Guard in 2015. While he didn’t start with a goal to become a hunting guide, after four years in the Coast Guard, his love of the ocean had grown. In 2019, Hunter started guiding for Canada Geese and taking youth and veteran hunters out for puddle ducks. In 2023, he got his captain’s license and began guiding primarily for Brant, sea ducks, diving ducks, and Black Ducks.
Hunter expanded his business and acquired the proper vessel to regularly target sea ducks in the ocean rather than strictly the bays as he had hunted the year prior. “People come to hunt waterfowl in New Jersey from all over, and for a handful of reasons”, Hunter shared. He’s had people fly in from all over the U.S., including from the Virgin Islands, as well as return customers, like a small group from Kentucky and another from Ohio.
Clouds of Birds – Redheads, Scoters, Buffleheads, and More
The waterfowl hunting experience on the Jersey coast is vastly different from that in the Midwest or the South. Much of the hunting occurs on the open ocean or in New Jersey bays. Around 30 species are available to hunt in the state alone. Birds flock along the shoreline and as far as 20 miles offshore, in flocks ranging from 10,000 to 80,000, depending on the species.
These “clouds of birds” are part of what Hunter enjoys so much about guiding and what he’s found his guests are also most moved by. Seeing tens of thousands of birds, especially sea ducks, is a new experience for many of his guests and often ends with them becoming captivated by sea duck hunting. That’s not the only thing that draws people to waterfowl hunting, however. “[Upon hunting a banded bird] most people want to know why the birds were banded, and where they came from”, he shared. Harvesting a banded bird is often a rare and exciting aspect of waterfowl hunting, given what hunters can learn about the individual, its life, and the species.
A Surf Scoter caught during initial survey efforts in 2004
Bird banding programs – where researchers catch birds and attach small metal or plastic bands with unique IDs to a bird’s leg – exist across the globe and are part of efforts to better understand bird migrations, population health, and survival. Among hunters in the United States, band reporting rates are close to 100%, and the program plays a vital role in connecting hunters, scientists, and bird lovers while also providing valuable research insights for those studying the species. For sea ducks, this information is especially critical, as many species breed in remote areas or spend time farther out at sea, making tracking their movements more difficult.
Thanks to the Sea Duck Joint Venture project conducted in the mid-2000s, the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory and the Canadian Wildlife Service Banding Office, programs that track all bird band deployments and recoveries, Hunter discovered that the surf scoter he harvested was the oldest ever recorded – estimated to be at least 22 years old. Established in 1920, the program is dedicated to managing information on banded and marked birds across North America. It helps monitor trends and the status of migratory and resident birds and manages over 77 million archived banding records and 5 million records of encounters. Each year, nearly 100,000 reports of bird encounters are entered into these data systems, providing invaluable scientific information.
After hunting for so many years, Hunter has seen a lot of old bands, including a 14-year-old Black Duck and a 19-year-old Canada Goose, but this was by far the most worn-out band he had ever seen. The aluminum had gotten so thin it was close to falling off, and the numbers weren’t readable with the naked eye and barely so under a magnifying glass.
Looking Back to 2004
Nain boat harbor, Labrador
Despite its age, the bird looked to be healthy and was in full breeding plumage. It had been banded in 2004 by Canadian Wildlife Service Biologist Scott Gilliland and his team in Labrador, Newfoundland, as part of a study on sea duck migration, behavior, and survival that was supported by the Sea Duck Joint Venture. With over 90,000 miles under its wings, the bird had been flying south for winter when it was harvested. Scott initially learned about the harvested scoter from none other than a Facebook group focused on banded waterfowl, and reached out to Hunter to learn more and share the research behind the band.
Scott recalls the risky and experimental nature of the project that started in 2004 – the crew was piloting new capture methods in a remote area, and they weren’t sure if they could even catch a single Surf Scoter. It was the first year of a four-year project based in Nain, Labrador, focused on molting Surf Scoters. Previous scoter captures had been done using a helicopter and a boat, with the boat helping to bring the flock in, for them to then be caught using a net gun attached to a helicopter. This method, while effective, was expensive, required a lot of technical training, and had many risks given the need to fly low over the water.
Thankfully, Scott’s initial predictions were wrong. The team used a new method involving only boats, which drove flocks inland towards a net lined with decoys where they would be caught. After just a month of capture attempts, the team had successfully banded 661 sea ducks – of which 637 were Surf Scoters!
Connecting People from Coast to Coast
Back on the coast of New Jersey, Scott shared about the research program with Hunter, including photos from the same day the 22-year-old scoter had been banded. Most bands that Hunter reports are local and relatively recent, but this one was from over 2000 miles away in Labrador, Newfoundland. “Seeing pictures of where the bird was banded was wild,” he shared, reflecting on the open, rocky habitat and small, remote community, and helped connect him more closely to the species, as well as a completely different world from where he lived. In fact, on the same Facebook group in which Scott connected with Hunter, someone from northern Labrador mentioned that their father, Gus Dicker, an Inuit resident of Nain, had assisted with the capture of the banded surf scoter. The involvement of local residents was an integral part of the project’s success.
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Left: Gus Dicker helping survey Surf Scoters in 2004, Right: a Surf Scoter being measured
Waterfowl banding programs help researchers better understand where birds are going, how long they are living, and how we can best protect them. Outside of these scientific benefits, the banding and research program helps bring people together through a shared love for these species. Ultimately, without this cooperation and collaboration between hunters and researchers, bird banding programs and other waterfowl research would be less successful, impacting harvest regulations, conservation measures, and the species we all care for. If you encounter a banded bird and are interested in contributing to this program, you can report the sighting at the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory website.
