Migration and condition of long-tailed duck wintering in eastern Canada

Project Number: 31

Year Funded: 2003

Lead Institution(s): Canadian Wildlife Service

Project Lead: Mark Mallory

Email:

Collaborator(s): USGWS, SDJV, CWS-Ontario

Location: Eastern Canada

Focal Species: Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)

Project Description: Many sea duck populations are declining, and the status of others is simply unknown because there are too few data to adequately determine population information. The long-tailed duck, a small sea duck with a circumpolar breeding distribution, falls into this latter category. We do not understand where long-tailed ducks wintering on the Great Lakes move to for breeding, their migration pathways and habitats, and whether wintering and breeding sites correspond to discreet subpopulations. In western North America, the long-tailed duck appears to be declining, while in the east it appears to be stable, although information on which to base this assessment is extremely limited.

Numbers of long-tailed ducks overwintering on the Great Lakes appear to be increasing. Because of a paucity of banding information on this species, however, we do not know where these wintering populations return to breed. This study was designed to capture birds overwintering on Lake Ontario, and use satellite telemetry to track those birds through spring migration, breeding and into fall migration. This technique would allow us to identify important migratory pathways, important staging areas, and breeding sites.