Population delineation, winter/spring habitat use, migration ecology and harvest of Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) from the southern portion of their winter range

Project Number: 63

Year Funded: 2008

Lead Institution(s): Simon Fraser University

Project Lead: Dan Esler

Email:

Collaborator(s): Kathy Brodhead (SFU), David Ward (USGS), Sharon Herzka (CICESE), Roberto Carmona (UABCS)

Location: Mexico

Focal Species: Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)

Project Description: This project was designed to contribute to coast-wide considerations of population delineation and to study the wintering ecology of surf scoters at the southern extent of their winter range. Our objectives were to use satellite and VHF telemetry to: (1) Describe key migration routes, timing of movements, and affiliations with staging (spring and fall), breeding and molting areas; and (2) Evaluate survival, habitat use patterns, foraging behavior, and diet of birds wintering in Baja California.

From November 2007 through April 2008, we monitored the locations, movements, and foraging activities of Surf Scoters wintering in Bahia San Quintín (BSQ), Baja California, and Laguna Ojo de Liebre (ODL), Baja California Sur, Mexico. We used radio telemetry to document movements, habitat-use patterns, and foraging effort of Surf Scoters wintering at the two lagoons. Additionally, we conducted age- and sex-specific surveys of surf scoters wintering in Baja California to document demographic structure and patterns of differential habitat use by cohorts. Surveys were conducted in a variety of habitats with varying degrees of wave exposure that included the two embayments (BSQ, ODL) and three exposed coastal sites in the vicinity of San Quintín, El Rosario (Agua Blanca), and Santa Rosalita. The data will contribute to a region-wide assessment of class distributions, habitat-use patterns, and habitat quality for surf scoters wintering in the Pacific. Diet analysis is an additional element of this project. Food items were obtained from (a) gastrointestinal tract contents of scoters that were collected in BSQ in the 2007/08 winter, (b) feces from scoters captured over two winters during radio deployment, and the relative contribution of prey types to the diet are being assessed using isotopic signatures from blood samples collected from captured and collected scoters. Isotopic signatures from red blood cells and blood plasma, which have different turnover rates, will provide information regarding short and long-term diet composition because the signatures will correspond with the period that the cells were produced.

Project Reports:

SDJV63 Interim Report FY05
SDJV63 Interim Report FY06
SDJV63 Interim Report FY07
SDJV63 Final Report FY08

Related Publications

Uher-Koch, B. D., D. Esler, S. A. Iverson, D. H. Ward, W. S. Boyd, M. Kirk, T. L. Lewis, C. S. VanStratt, K. M. Brodhead, J. W. Hupp, and J. A. Schmutz. 2016. Interacting effects of latitude, mass, age, and sex on winter survival of Surf Scoters ( Melanitta perspicillata ): implications for differential migration. Canadian Journal of Zoology 94:233–241. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2015-0107

De La Cruz, S. E. W., J. Y. Takekawa, M. T. Wilson, D. R. Nysewander, J. R. Evenson, D. Esler, W. S. Boyd, and D. H. Ward. 2009. Spring migration routes and chronology of surf scoters (Melanitta perspicillata): a synthesis of Pacific coast studies. Canadian Journal of Zoology 87:1069–1086. https://doi.org/10.1139/Z09-099

Bianchini, K., S.G. Gilliland, A.M. Berlin, T.D. Bowman, W.S. Boyd, S.E.W. De La Cruz, D. Esler, J.R. Evenson, P.L. Flint, K. Kenow, C. Lepage, P.H. Loring, S.R. McWilliams, D.E. Meattey, J.E. Osenkowski, M.C. Perry, J-F. Poulin, E. Reed, C. Roy, J-P.L. Savard, L. Savoy, J.L. Schamber, C.S. Spiegel, J. Takekawa, D.H. Ward, and M.L. Mallory. 2023. Continental scoter breeding chronology and distribution. Wildlife Biology. https://doi.org/10.1002/wlb3.01099

Lamb, J.S., C. Cooper-Mullin, S.G. Gilliland, A.M. Berlin, T.D. Bowman, W.S. Boyd, S.E.W. De La Cruz, D. Esler, J.R. Evenson, P.L. Flint, C. Lepage, J.E. Osenkowski, P.W.C. Paton, M.C. Perry, D. Rosenberg, J-P.L. Savard, L. Savoy, J. Schamber, C.S. Spiegel, D.H. Ward, J.Y. Takekawa, and S.R. McWilliams. 2024. Evaluating conservation units using network analysis: A sea duck case study. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2648

Lok, E.K., D. Esler, J.Y. Takekawa, S.W. De La Cruz, W.S. Boyd, D.R. Nyeswander, J.R. Evenson, and D.H. Ward. 2012. Spatiotemporal associations between Pacific herring spawn and surf scoter spring migration: evaluating a “silver wave” hypothesis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 457:139-150. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09692

Lok, E., D. Esler, J. Takekawa, S. De La Cruz, W. Boyd, D. Nysewander, J. Evenson, and D. Ward. 2011. Stopover Habitats of Spring Migrating Surf Scoters in Southeast Alaska. Journal of Wildlife Management 75:92–100. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.5

Takekawa, J. Y., S. W. De La Cruz, M. T. Wilson, E. C. Palm, J. Yee, D. R. Nysewander, J. R. Evenson, J. M. Eadie, D. Esler, W. S. Boyd, and D. H. Ward. 2011. Breeding distribution and ecology of Pacific coast Surf Scoters. Pp. 41– 64 in J. V. Wells (editor). Boreal birds of North America: a hemispheric view of their conservation links and significance. Studies in Avian Biology (no. 41), University of California Press, Berkeley, CA http://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/papers/Takekawa%20et%20al%20Studies%20in%20Avian%20Biol%202011.pdf

Population delineation, winter/spring habitat use, migration ecology and harvest of Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) from the southern portion of their winter range