Emily Silverman

Kate H. Martin, Margaret Campbell, Ken D. Richkus, Al R. Hanson, David E. Safine, and Shannon S. Badzinski

Kate H. Martin

An increased awareness of sea duck population declines and the paucity of data on basic sea duck ecology spurred the creation of the Sea Duck Joint Venture (SDJV) in 1999 under the auspices of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan. The SDJV is a self-directed partnership co-chaired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service and includes members from federal, state/provincial, and non-governmental organizations in the U.S. and Canada. The SDJV works with partners to develop, fund, and communicate the results of research and monitoring that addresses information gaps related to the management and conservation of North American sea ducks. Through supporting over 170 research projects to date, the SDJV has delineated populations, identified population-limiting factors, and characterized migratory routes and important habitats for several species. Over time, the focus of the SDJV has evolved from resolving basic ecological questions to prioritizing work explicitly linked to conservation and management actions. The SDJV has provided guidance on monitoring priorities and sea duck harvest sustainability and developed survey methods including improved species detection and identification techniques.  More recently, the SDJV developed the Sea Duck Key Habitat Sites Atlas that identifies 85 sites most critical to sea duck populations in North America to aid in habitat protection, marine spatial planning, and environmental assessments. In addition, the SDJV Student Fellowship Program supports early career biologists contributing to sea duck research and conservation. We briefly describe the SDJV partnership, the priorities set in the 2022 SDJV Strategic Plan, and the process for soliciting and selecting projects for SDJV funding. We highlight recent SDJV-supported research contributing to the science and management of sea ducks, describe information gaps and priorities that we hope to address in the future, and provide tips to improve the competitiveness of proposals and fellowship applications submitted to the SDJV.

Scott Gilliland, Nic McLellan, Kate Martin, Jodie Hambrook, and Emile David

Scott Gilliland

Juliet S. Lamb, Clara Cooper-Mullin, Scott G. Gilliland, Alicia M. Berlin, Timothy D. Bowman, W. Sean Boyd, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Daniel Esler, Joseph R. Evenson, Paul Flint, Christine Lepage, Dustin E. Meattey, Jason E. Osenkowski, Peter W.C. Paton, Matthew C. Perry, Dan Rosenberg, Jean-Pierre L. Savard, Lucas Savoy, Jason Schamber, David. H. Ward, John Y. Takekawa, and Scott R. McWilliams

Juliet S. Lamb

Conserving migratory wildlife requires understanding how groups of individuals interact across seasons and landscapes. Telemetry reveals individual movements at large spatiotemporal scales; however, using movement data to define conservation units requires scaling up from individual movements to species-and community-level patterns. We developed a framework to define flyways and identify important sites from telemetry data and applied it to long-term, range-wide tracking data from three species (640 individuals) of North American scoters (Melanitta spp.). Our network of 88 nodes included both multi-species hotspots and areas uniquely important to individual species. We found limited spatial overlap between scoters wintering on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America, with differing connectivity patterns between species. Black scoters from Eastern and Western wintering sites did not overlap; however, surf and white-winged scoters overlapped across a limited range of breeding sites, which showed high levels of importance for population connectivity in the multi-species network. We also used the network model to identify four distinct multi-species conservation units based on individual movements, which did not correspond to traditional management flyways. While Eastern scoters showed similar connectivity patterns and migration routes across all species, migratory routes were less uniform for Western scoter populations and groups of interconnected sites differed among species. Overall, we show how individual movements can be used to quantify connectivity of migratory species at range-wide scales and identify potential gaps in landscape-level conservation strategies.

Alex Nicol-Harper, Kevin A. Wood, Geoff M. Hilton, C. Patrick Doncaster, and Thomas H. G. Ezard

Alex Nicol-Harper

Intermittent breeding, whereby recruited individuals forgo attempting reproduction in some breeding periods, is one of the least understood avian life-history parameters. It has been observed in various sea ducks, including the well-studied Common Eider (Somateria mollissima), for which we found a mean breeding propensity of ~0.75, equivalent to one-quarter of females skipping breeding each year, or each female skipping once per 4 years. We asked whether this represents a short-term response to poor body condition or a long-term strategy maximising lifetime reproductive output, with implications for population projection and optimised conservation action. We parameterised matrix population models to consider the effects of different incorporations of intermittent breeding. Our first life-cycle formulation included a discrete and reversible ‘non-breeder’ state, which revealed that population growth rate was driven primarily by breeding-state transitions. To investigate the possibility of longer-lasting impacts of intermittent breeding on population dynamics, we modelled a life cycle with a ‘refreshed breeder’ stage, to which individuals transition for the time-step following non-breeding. This accounted for the high survival cost of breeding, estimated from the significant proportion of mortality incurred during the breeding season. Transitions in and out of the ‘refreshed breeder’ stage had the capacity to strongly influence population growth rate, mostly driven by the potential for differential survival of ‘refreshed breeders’. These results indicate a need for focussed data-gathering on individuals moving between breeding and nonbreeding states, either from field observations or from existing individual-based datasets.

Mark D. Koneff, Bradley A. Pickens, Ryan C. Dotson, Timothy P. White, Kyle L. Landolt, Luke J. Fara, Aaron C. Murphy, and Jennifer J. Dieck

Mark D. Koneff

Broad-scale population surveys of waterfowl and other migratory birds have traditionally been accomplished by human observers using aircraft flown at low altitude.  These methods have proven to be rapid and cost-efficient, however they subject the aircrew to increased risk. In addition, while advanced analytical methods exist to adjust counts for various sources of observer bias, field implementation can be difficult and increases survey cost.  Remote sensing increases safety by allowing data collection at higher altitudes and creates a permanent record of observations that offers new opportunities to adjust for detection and classification biases. We have deployed advanced remote sensing systems for USFWS aircraft to support high resolution imaging of waterfowl and other wildlife.  These systems generate very large volumes of data during broad-scale surveys that exceed the capacity of natural resources agencies to process manually. Computer vision and machine learning methods are being developed to automate detection and classification of wildlife from imagery. Workflows involving in-flight data processing increase efficiencies.  We will review progress and ongoing challenges in development of acquisition technologies, large volume data handling, machine learning processing methods, and use of machine learning outputs in estimation of population size.

Kristin Bianchini, Scott G. Gilliland, Alicia M. Berlin, Tim D. Bowman, W. Sean Boyd, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Dan Esler, Joseph R. Evenson, Paul L. Flint, Christine Lepage, Scott R. McWilliams, Dustin E. Meattey, Jay E. Osenkowski, Matthew C. Perry, Jean-François Poulin, Eric T. Reed, Christian Roy, Jean-Pierre L. Savard, Lucas Savoy, Jason L. Schamber, Caleb S. Spiegel, John Takekawa, David H. Ward and Mark L. Mallory

Kristin Bianchini

North America's Scoter species are poorly monitored relative to other waterfowl. Black (Melanitta americana), Surf (M. perspicillata), and White-winged (M. deglandi) Scoter abundance and trend estimates are thus uncertain in many parts of these species' ranges. Our goal was to refine our understanding of the spatial and temporal distributions of scoters to inform the timing and location of breeding surveys. In this study, we integrated satellite telemetry tracking data from Black, Surf, and White-winged Scoters marked at multiple molting, staging, breeding, and wintering areas along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to quantify Scoter breeding chronology and distribution across North America. We also examined possible drivers of variation in timing of arrival, length of stay, and departure at nesting locations. We documented a northwest to southeast distribution of estimated breeding sites across Alaska and Canada. On average, Scoters arrived at nest sites on June 1. Surf Scoters and Pacific Black Scoters arrived earliest and departed earliest. Pacific-wintering Black and White-winged Scoters began breeding earlier than Atlantic-wintering birds. Additionally, birds arrived at nesting locations earlier in years with earlier snowmelt, and later snowmelt reduced lengths of stay for males. Breeding chronology also varied by age group, with adults arriving earlier than subadults. Our study is the first to comprehensively describe spatial variation in timing of breeding of both Atlantic and Pacific populations of all three Scoter species across North America. Our results provide insight into how current surveys enumerate Scoters and can inform possible supplemental efforts to improve continental scoter monitoring.

Kyle Landolt, Tim White, Mark Koneff, Brad Pickens, Aaron Murphy, Matthew Walker, Jennifer Dieck, Luke Fara, Dave Fronczak, and Stella Yu

Kyle Landolt

Avian and wildlife population surveys can help inform environmental assessments, and impact analyses of offshore energy development projects. Low-flying ocular aerial surveys have historically been used to estimate waterfowl populations, but place personnel at risk of injury and survey results are prone to bias and misclassification. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Migratory Bird Management (USFWS-DMBM), is advancing the development of deep learning algorithms and tools to automate the detection, enumeration, and classification of sea ducks and other marine wildlife. Aerial imagery collected from the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf and the Great Lakes provide data for algorithm development. OpenCV’s Computer Vision Annotation Tool (CVAT) is providing the annotation framework, allowing wildlife experts to efficiently create annotations and support database development.
We have labeled approximately 79,306 objects in 6,030 images. These objects include birds, mammals, reptiles, and more. Using 10,000 annotated bird objects, we developed an object detection model using a MaskRCNN framework. The model explicitly detects birds without any further classification. Current performance is benchmarked at a mAP (mean average precision) of 0.45 and an AR (average recall) of 0.56. Background color and glare presence is also shown to have impact on detection performance. Further work will be done to implement a multi-object detection model to detect and predict objects of certain species, age, sex, and activity while taking other co-variates like ground sampling distance into account. Lastly, we find that using deep learning algorithms to detect birds reduces the time manually annotating bird objects by 95%, rapidly accelerating annotation development. (under internal USGS review)

Diana Solovyeva

Diana Solovyeva

David Bradley and Danielle Ethier

David Bradley

Danielle Ethier

Sea ducks constitute a marine bird vital sign indicator of ecosystem health in the Salish Sea, which is of global importance to many populations of marine birds that use different parts of the ecosystem through the course of each annual cycle. It is imperative to work across management jurisdictions to effectively conserve or recover key areas of habitat for these birds. However, the jurisdictional complexity presents a major challenge to taking an ecosystem scale approach to the problem, not least because many information sources (e.g., biological datasets) end at the international border.
We overcame this barrier by harmonizing avian and geospatial information in a way that can assist the agencies responsible for implementing conservation prescriptions, especially in terms of identifying and managing key habitats. Our project convened a network of scientists and managers from both Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions of the Salish Sea to implement a three-phase project. The project goals included, 1) engaging a group of experienced analysts working on sea ducks and their habitats, to identify and assess compatibility of relevant bird and environmental datasets; 2) convening both analysts and conservation managers at an in-person workshop to finalize the choice of data layers and recommend a unified approach to modelling sea duck habitat at the scale of the Salish Sea ecosystem; and 3) completing a detailed preparation of the avian and geospatial data to facilitate future sea duck model(s). The final product was delivered in a webinar to management agencies, and options for using the project and model outputs to inform conservation planning were discussed.

Julia E. Baak

Julia E. Baak

The Canadian Arctic contains most of Canada’s coastal and marine zones, and this region supports substantial populations of sea ducks and seabirds. However, as a region that is logistically challenging to monitor, many of these areas have not been surveyed in decades and the abundance of birds in these regions are unknown. Many species, such as King Eiders (Somateria spectabilis) and Common Eiders (S. mollissima), are culturally and nutritionally significant for nearby communities. However, as climate change continues to shift access to open water and sea ice, subsequently increasing development and marine traffic, the marine birds that rely on this region for feeding and resting may be at an increased risk. Thus, from a community and a conservation perspective, understanding the abundance of these species in the Canadian Arctic is important to inform conservation and management. Here, we review information on key marine habitat sites for sea ducks and seabirds across the Canadian Arctic to develop a prioritization plan for future monitoring across this region. This prioritization structure combines information on the species present at each site (e.g., conservation status, population size and trends, timing of use of key site), previous surveys at the site (e.g., previous survey timing and methods) as well as characteristics of the site itself (e.g., protection status, anthropogenic activities and threats, indigenous importance) to prioritize sites for monitoring. We present preliminary results and discuss next steps for monitoring seabirds and sea ducks across the Canadian Arctic.

Jacob Hewitt, Jason N. Straub, Anthony J. Roberts, and Kelsey Sullivan

Jacob Hewitt

Sea duck (Tribe Mergini) populations in the Atlantic Flyway have experienced significant declines in recent years, though underlying causes are poorly understood. Information on population demographic parameters may provide insight for wildlife managers seeking to maintain sustainable harvest. However, population monitoring capacity for sea ducks is limited relative to other migratory bird species due to their remote breeding distribution. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service organizes a Parts Collection Survey (PCS) which estimates recruitment in sea duck populations using age ratios (juveniles/adult), though estimates are biased due to differential harvest vulnerability between age-cohorts. I used a direct-count photo survey to calculate improved estimates of annual recruitment for Long-tailed Duck, Black Scoter, Surf Scoter, and White-winged Scoter (hereafter sea ducks) populations in the Atlantic Flyway. I and other surveyors collected photos of flighted sea ducks from shore and by boat in 11 states from October 15-December 15 annually in 2019-2022. We classified photographed birds according to age and sex and calculated juvenile proportions of each species using a Bayesian binomial model. To compare photo survey estimates with PCS estimates, I used a paired t-test organized by year. I found that PCS estimates of juvenile proportions were significantly greater than photo survey estimates for three sea duck species, indicating a consistent positive bias in PCS driven by harvest vulnerability. I also derived novel estimates of juvenile harvest vulnerability using the mean difference between within-year estimates. My work demonstrated the photo survey methodology used in this study produced reliable and precise annual recruitment estimates for four poorly monitored waterfowl populations; I recommend managers continue to adopt this approach in future years with additional consideration given for spatial representation and refinement of image classification procedures for Long-tailed Duck estimates.

Fredrik Haas, Niklas Liljebäck, Johan Månsson, Ib K. Petersen, Jacob Sterup, Adam Stålnäbb and Iben H. Sørensen

Fredrik Haas

Several sea duck species breeding in the Nordic countries are in focus due to long-term population declines and a lack of knowledge on the most basic parameters related to the management of these and other threatened species. The Baltic Sea is an internationally important wintering area for diving ducks from large parts of Russia and Scandinavia, yet the migratory behaviour and wintering sites of both Nordic and Arctic populations are still poorly known. Working in Sörmland’s Archipelago in the Swedish part of the Baltic Sea, the aim of this project is to study the breeding ecology, and to trap incubating females of three redlisted sea duck species (Common Eider Somateria mollissima, Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator and Velvet Scoter Melanitta fusca) to track their movements during the non-breeding period by means of geolocators. Such data will be extremely valuable for the successful implementation of international management plans such as the one for Velvet Scoter (AEWA, 2018) and Common Eider (AEWA, 2022).
The project started in 2021, and during the breeding seasons we locate, map and monitor hundreds of nests – covering an entire island in the archipelago. During the field seasons in 2021 and 2022, we also x-rayed trapped females to study crippling rates. We will present our data on nesting success, crippling rates, and preliminary tracks resulting from recaptures of females carrying geolocators.

Jesse Kemp, W. Sean Boyd, Tesia M. Forstner, Daniel Esler, Timothy D. Bowman, David C. Douglas, Danica Hogan, Malcolm McAdie, Jonathan E. Thompson, Megan Willie, and David J. Green

Jesse Kemp

The broad seasonal timing of bird migrations is determined by internal biological clocks, which are synchronized by external cues, such as photoperiod. Birds may further refine their migratory timing by responding to external environmental conditions, such as temperature, snow cover, or seasonal patterns of food availability. We use 11 years of satellite telemetry data to assess how interannual variation in environmental cues affects the timing of migration of adult Pacific Barrow’s Goldeneye (Bucephala islandica) across the species’ Pacific range. Birds at higher latitudes initiate spring and moult migrations later and fall migration earlier than individuals at lower latitudes. After controlling for the effects of latitude, we found that individual Barrow’s Goldeneye refine their spring migratory phenology in response to environmental conditions. Birds depart their wintering grounds earlier in years with warmer springs on their wintering grounds and arrive on their breeding grounds earlier in years with earlier annual snowmelt on their breeding grounds. Because birds respond to environmental conditions both at the beginning and end of spring migration, our results suggest that Barrow’s Goldeneye update their migratory decision-making enroute when they encounter novel environmental conditions. Sensitivity to environmental cues suggests that Barrow’s Goldeneye may have behavioural plasticity that is adaptive when faced with ongoing climate change.

Shawn R. Craik, Rodger D. Titman

Shawn R. Craik

Conspecific brood parasitism (CBP) is an intriguing alternative reproductive tactic that is especially common in waterfowl. Nonetheless, demographic studies of CBP are known for only a few species, so we still do not fully comprehend the adaptative significance of CBP across ecological contexts in which the behavior occurs. CBP is an important, yet relatively unexplored feature of the nesting biology of Red-breasted Mergansers (Mergus serrator). We assessed (i) cues used by parasites for selecting host nests and (ii) effects of CBP on host lifetime fitness in a colony of Red-breasted Mergansers in which nests are placed in dense upland vegetation on a coastal archipelago. Brood parasites did not select host nests based on traits providing cues about nest-site safety or host quality. Rather, natural nests were much more likely to be parasitized than experimental nests, suggesting that host presence can act as a cue for parasites looking to lay their foreign eggs. Parasitic eggs were almost always laid during the host laying cycle and typically in nests initiated early in the season. Indeed, rates of parasitism throughout a host’s lifetime (range 0-100% of nests) increased with earlier dates of nest initiation. CBP was not linked to annual survival in hosts, however, we detected measurable costs of brood parasitism to hosts’ current reproduction. Hatching success throughout a host’s lifetime declined with a greater number of foreign eggs added to the individual’s nests. Despite this, hosts spent little time at the nest prior to incubation and did not remove parasite eggs immediately after being laid. The lack of strong host defense against CBP may reflect in part weak selection pressure given that host fitness costs of parasitism in this population were apparently small for nests with light parasitism (e.g., 1-3 foreign eggs). 

Riley Porter, J. Brian Davis, Melanie Boudreau, Guiming Wang, and Eric Taylor

Riley Porter

The Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) is a cavity nesting sea duck that predominately breeds in boreal forest systems. Goldeneyes spend 7-8 months of their annual cycle in both freshwater and marine environments but subsequently return inland to freshwater habitats to breed. Artificial nest boxes are used to increase breeding populations of goldeneyes and other waterfowl in Europe and North America. In 1993, the University of Alaska Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society received funding from Ducks Unlimited to assess nesting ecology of common goldeneyes at the northern limit of their breeding range. Starting in 1997, 150 nest boxes were deployed in the 639 km2 Chena River State Recreation Area, located approximately 48 km northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. Although productivity, duckling survival, nest attendance and other aspects of common goldeneye breeding ecology have been reported, no information exists on how environmental variables may potentially impact goldeneyes’ choice of nest boxes. Because approximately 30% of the boxes have remained unoccupied since 2005, we assess how resource characteristics at various scales influence nest box selection by breeding goldeneyes.
Here, we report on how distance to nearest occupied nest box, nest box visibility, and other factors potentially influence nesting site selection. Results of this study will increase our understanding of nest site selection at multiple scales to better evaluate boreal wetland habitats for this species in interior Alaska.

Jacob S. Kraemer

Jacob S. Kraemer

Pinola Conservancy, located in Shreveport, Louisiana, is a private aviary, accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), dedicated to the preservation of birds, with a focus on northern hemisphere Anseriformes, Charadriiformes, and Passeriformes. Pinola produces and shares birds along with research opportunities and educational outreach. Pinola Conservancy is eager to offer opportunities for controlled research work within its fully acclimated captive flock of sea ducks. Pinola offers opportunities to work with a wide range of sea duck species of varying individual numbers which include:
Long-tailed Duck, Harlequin Duck, Steller’s Eider, Spectacled Eider, Common Eider (dresserii and v-nigra), King Eider, Common Scoter, Black Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Surf Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, and Common Merganser
Working with these species in our 40,000 square feet of controlled aviary settings and environments allows research to focus on the study subject without uncontrolled biases or variables. Researchers have access to:
Captive husbandry expertise, full veterinary clinic and resources, cControlled diets, controlled enclosure conditions, and sterile environments, free of parasites and pathogens.
Pinola opens these opportunities to all fields of research as we endeavor to further our collaborative efforts with the sea duck research community.

Diana Solovyeva and Olga Propopenko

Diana Solovyeva

Olga Propopenko

Joel P. Heath,Lucassie Arragutainaq

Joel P. Heath

Qikiqtait (the Belcher Islands) archipelago located in the heart of Hudson Bay home to the unique Hudson Bay Common Eider subspecies. The community of Sanikiluaq is working to create an Indigenous-led marine and terrestrial protected area that will protect a variety of key species including protecting eiders throughout their annual cycle, given this species does not migrate. Sanikiluaq has a unique relationship with eiders as showcased in their film People of a Feather. The Arctic Eider Society is an Inuit-led registered charity based in Sanikiluaq and is supporting implementing this vision through a whole-of-community approach. This talk will highlight recent capacity building for infrastructure and community-driven research and monitoring, including the use of SIKU: The Indigenous Knowledge Social Network, a mobile app and project management platform created by AES and used to crowd-source a resource inventory for Qikiqtait, as well as being used across the north by Indigenous communities in Canada, Alaska and Greenland.

Liam Ragan, Christina Service, and Sandie Hankewich

Liam Ragan

Gitdisdzu Lugyeks, an Indigenous Protected Area of the Kitasoo Xai’xais (KX) Nation (Klemtu, Canada), supports the largest remaining herring spawn on the Central Coast due, in part, to active KX stewardship including negotiated commercial fisheries closures. Drawn to the same herring abundance that support KX traditional harvesters, migrating Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata) also use this region as a critical migration stop-over to forage on spawn.
However, over the past decade traditional harvesters have witnessed a stark increase in Surf Scoters aggregating at the spawn, and in response we sought to quantify scoter abundance, arrival timing, and potential foraging impacts on herring spawn. For the 2022 and 2023 herring spawn seasons, project partners KX and BC Nature monitored temporal patterns of a scoter abundance in Gitdisdzu Lugyeks. Additionally, SCUBA surveys documented the corresponding decline in herring egg abundance that correlates to scoter presence and presumed foraging pressure. Surf Scoters aggregation numbers were found to be globally significant with multiple waves of birds and a high daily count of 42,000, equivalent to approximately 9% of the species’ entire global estimated population.[1]  A previous partial count of scoters in the region and Indigenous Knowledge from KX herring egg harvesters align to suggest that our observed count represents a rapid increase in local scoter abundance. Additionally, current numbers are well in excess of thresholds required for designation of an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) and Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) for both Surf Scoters and a number of other bird species, and suggest the disproportionate value of this IPA for migratory Surf Scoters. More broadly, this work serves as an important case study showcasing the critical role of Indigenous Knowledge holders as sentinels of change and the relevance of Indigenous stewardship initiatives in supporting sea duck migration up and down the Pacific Coast.

Sarah E. Gutowsky, Mark L. Mallory, Gregory J. Robertson, Nic R. McLellan, Alan Hanson, and Scott G. Gilliland

Few species of sea duck are subject to as many uses, threats, or administrative conflicts as the American common eider (Somateria mollisima dresseri), requiring coordinated efforts for effective management. However, dresseri eiders have been challenging to manage at a range-wide scale in part due to a lack of consistent monitoring information. Here we provide key insights into spatial patterns in trends and winter distribution for dresseri in Canada and the US by combining data from winter aerial surveys flown in Canada 2003-2018 with citizen science data from the Christmas Bird Count (CBC; a winter bird census by volunteers) conducted nearly range-wide 1980-2020, and data from a large-scale, multi-partnered PTT telemetry study initiated in 2021. Surveys and CBCs indicated consistent, widespread declines in local abundance throughout the entire Gulf of Maine and surrounding ecosystems over the past two decades, while trends in the northern and southern extent of the range remained stable or increased, suggesting a redistribution away from the centre of the overwinter range. Of 14 CBC circles in Massachusetts, only two showed steep positive growth, in Cape Cod and the Tuckernuck Islands. Initial PTT results show birds from across the breeding range migrate to winter here, with especially concentrated aggregations around the west end of Nantucket; over three years of tracking 180 females from nesting areas in Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, between 30-90% of birds from each region winter around Cape Cod, with many birds migrating offshore over the Gulf of Maine. Overall, trends and distributions revealed by combining multiple data sources support the notion that Cape Cod and Nantucket Sound are of increasing importance to wintering eiders, since large numbers from across the breeding range continue to congregate here while declines perpetuate to the north along the Atlantic U.S. coast and Maritime Canada.

Julius Morkūnas, Paola Forni, Rasa Morkūnė, and Ramūnas Žydelis

Julius Morkūnas

Velvet Scoter is a relatively large sea duck specializing in feeding on soft bottom bivalves and crustaceans. During winter, distribution of this species is restricted to the eastern and southern Baltic Sea. And it experienced a severe decline during the recent two decades. Scoter habitats are affected by changing climate, nutrients, invasive species and human disturbances such as fishing activities, shipping and wind energy developments. Thus, it is difficult to pinpoint the cause responsible for the recent decline especially when knowledge about winter ecology of this species is limited.
Feeding is the most important activity of wintering sea ducks ensuring survival in harsh winter conditions. Aiming to understand foraging patterns, we fitted 33 Velvet Scoters with external GPS-GSM transmitters equipped with depth sensors enabling to record each dive at 1 second resolution. Transmitters were attached to back feathers using tape and glue. The study was conducted in the eastern Baltic with birds being tracked from December through April.
We quantified diving effort of Velvet Scoters throughout the wintering season, determined dive duration and diving intensity in relation to water depth, assessed presumed feeding efficiency at different depths as time spent at the bottom. Our study represents first empirical measurements of feeding activities of Velvet Scoters in their natural environment throughout the wintering period. The results show large individual variation on preferred feeding depth and time spent underwater. Velvet Scoters can dive to 50 m, but mostly use shallower depths spending on average 90 seconds per dive with total time underwater ranging from 2 to 7.5 hours per day.

Asha C. Grewal, Mark L. Mallory, Scott Gilliland, Nic McLellan, Greg Robertson, Frances E. Buderman, Al Hanson, and Sarah E. Gutowsky

Asha C. Grewal

The American common eider (Somateria mollisima dresseri) has been declining since ~2000 in the southern portion of their breeding range in eastern North America, where poor recruitment rates have also been observed during the past decade. Diagnosing which vital rates are contributing to population declines is key to delivering effective management programs. Population declines and poor recruitment may be partially attributable to regionally low breeding propensity. To determine the degree of geographic variation in breeding propensity, a large-scale PTT satellite telemetry program was initiated in 2021, with 182 PTT devices deployed in Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, western Newfoundland, and southern Labrador during the spring breeding seasons of 2021, 2022 and 2023. Hens captured on the water near breeding colonies or on the nest were equipped with surgically-implanted PTT devices, with battery life expectations of at least four years due to duty cycles of 17 h off and 2 h on during the nesting period. We now have data from 89 PTT deployments on hens in 2021 and 2022 which have returned to breed in subsequent seasons. However, novel modeling approaches are necessary in order to infer breeding status from movement patterns. Here we present preliminary results of a Bayesian behavioural-switching state-space model, which takes into account elliptical location error and spatial proximity to known nesting sites to estimate the likelihood that hens initiated a nesting attempt in a given breeding season. This work is a critical first step toward determining how geographic variation in breeding propensity may be influencing regional declines in dresseri common eiders.

Mikael Kilpi

Mikael Kilpi

TBD

Wildlife Conservation Society

Kate Williams, Julia Gulka, Iain Stenhouse, Holly Goyert, Edward Jenkins, Kate McClellan Press, Caleb Spiegel, Tim White

Kate Williams

Offshore wind development is rapidly increasing in the U.S. Atlantic, bringing with it a range of potential effects to birds that use the marine environment. For marine birds, the most observed effect of offshore wind energy (OSW) facilities are behavioral changes that lead to avoidance from, or attraction to, these facilities. To ensure site-specific research into this phenomenon is consistent and well-designed, a committee of subject matter experts (under the auspices of NYSERDA’s Offshore Wind Environmental Technical Working Group) have developed guidance for conducting studies of changes in bird distributions and habitat use at OSW facilities. The workgroup is chaired by representatives of U.S. federal regulatory agencies and includes experts from the U.S., Canada, and the UK. The guidance document was developed via a combination of literature review of existing guidance and effects studies, power analyses, and expert elicitation. It identifies key research questions regarding displacement, attraction, and macro-to meso-scale avoidance, and provides an overall process for the selection of research questions, focal taxa, and data collection methods. This includes guidance on the strengths and limitations of study methods, and on designing studies to ensure adequate statistical power to detect effects. The guidance also includes specific recommendations for the use of observational surveys (e.g., digital aerial and boat-based surveys), including the use of Before-After Gradient (BAG) designs and other considerations. Finally, recommendations on data consistency and transparency are intended to ensure that the results of site-specific pre- and post-construction monitoring studies are available to inform meta-analyses, cumulative impact assessments, and other large-scale assessments of OSW effects on marine bird populations. The guidance is intended to be used by government and regulatory agencies, offshore wind developers, and other stakeholders to improve the quality of site-specific monitoring efforts and improve our understanding of the effects to marine birds from offshore wind development.

Kelly E. Kapsar, Benjamin K. Sullender, and Kathy J. Kuletz

Kelly E. Kapsar

Alaska’s oceans support large commercial fisheries and provide important marine transportation corridors while also hosting vulnerable and threatened sea duck species. Reports indicate that sea ducks are subject to vessel collisions, likely due to disorientation caused by attraction to vessel lights. To evaluate the risk landscape, we used automatic identification system vessel traffic data and distribution data for seven sea duck species obtained from the North Pacific Pelagic Seabird Database. We analyzed overlap between vessels and at-sea sea duck distributions in Alaska during both summer (June-August) and fall (September-November). In summer, highest risk areas were primarily concentrated in the Gulf of Alaska, particularly southeastern Prince William Sound (PWS) and Kachemak Bay. Highest risk areas during fall occurred again in southeastern PWS, but were mostly located along the shipping corridor from the northern Bering Sea and along the eastern Chukchi Sea to Pt. Barrow. Sea ducks were also exposed to elevated levels of nighttime vessel traffic in this Arctic region during fall, when darkness returns and birds are migrating south. These findings can inform spatial management measures designed to reduce risk and injury to sea ducks and other seabirds from vessel activities.

Anthony S. Wetherhill, David N. Carss, Chris Heward, Liz M. Humphreys, Mark W. Wilson and John Calladine

Anthony S. Wetherhill

Satellite tracking of Common Merganser/Goosander (Mergus merganser) was conducted in two river systems in Scotland to understand their ranging behaviour and potential impacts on salmonid fisheries of commercial and conservation importance. Twelve adult female and eight adult male Goosanders were captured and fitted with satellite transmitters during the salmon smolt run period, between March and May in 2021 and 2022, and their movements were monitored. The results showed that Goosanders used a variety of habitats including rivers, lochs, and estuaries, but rivers were the most frequently used habitat type. Home range sizes varied widely among individuals, ranging from 2 km to 60 km of river length. The majority of birds stayed within the river catchments they were caught in, but a few individuals made extensive movements to other river systems in Scotland. In one case a male Goosander migrated to the coast of south-west Norway. Overall, this study provides an initial insight into the ranging behaviour of Goosanders in Scotland, a refinement of capture and tag-fitting methods, and highlights areas where further research is needed to help ameliorate a human-wildlife conflict.

Megan V. Ross, Joseph R. Evenson, Patrick D. O’Hara, William O’Shea, Matthiew Hamer, Kyle A. Spragens, W. Sean Boyd

Megan V. Ross

Sea ducks (Tribe Mergini) interact with human-altered coastlines and marine waterways, exposing them to anthropogenic stressors associated with shipping and recreational vessel traffic. The Salish Sea is a high traffic waterway shared between Canada and the USA that was recently recognized as a Sea Duck Key Site by the Sea Duck Joint Venture. Conservation planners in this region lack high resolution data characterizing daily and seasonal movements of sea ducks during the non-breeding season that could help to reduce risks associated with vessels, such as oil spills. We marked 56 Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) and 33 White-winged Scoters (Melanitta fusca) with GPS-GSM transmitters in the Salish Sea in November-December 2021 and 2022. Devices were programmed to collect GPS fixes every ca. 3 hours while birds remained within the Salish Sea, and every 24 hours during spring migration and during the breeding season. Transmitters provided between 6 and 12 months of positional data and ancillary information such as altitude, ground speed and heading. We calculated species-specific, Kernel utilization-based distributions for marked scoters. We identified areas of importance during two distinct time (night, day) and seasonal (winter, spring) periods. We used available Automatic Identification System (AIS) vessel traffic data to explore how scoter core use areas interact with anthropogenic stressors associated with vessel traffic including exposure risk to both operational (smaller scale often intentional discharge) and catastrophic (large scale accidental) oil pollution. We expected that diurnal and nocturnal movement patterns could result in exposure to different risks – exposure to smaller faster vessels and smaller oil spills when nearshore versus exposure to larger vessels, larger oil spills and light pollution in offshore environments. Large transboundary marking efforts such as these are invaluable for effective marine spatial planning and assessing risk in the event of an environmental emergency.

Dustin E. Meattey, Lucas Savoy, Kelsey Sullivan, Brad Allen, Daniel G. McAuley, Robin Dyer, and Chris Dwyer

Dustin E. Meatt

Duckling survival has been identified as a significant limiting factor for a sustainable population of the American common eider. Although periodic boom/bust cycles in duckling survival and breeding success of females have helped maintain common eider populations in the past, evidence suggests that fewer and/or less frequent years of increased production have occurred within the Gulf of Maine which is necessary for maintaining the eider population. In 2016, a collaborative project among Biodiversity Research Institute, USFWS, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and USGS, initiated a pilot study to test the feasibility of marking female eiders with nasal tags and VHF radios and tracking individual broods to determine duckling survival at an important nesting colony in Casco Bay, Maine. We continued to nasal mark and radio tag hens during the 2017-23 seasons and collected additional apparent duckling survival rates during the 2018-23 seasons.
In 2021 we implemented active gull control efforts at the focal eider nesting colony, targeting great black-backed gulls, to evaluate the effectiveness of gull control as a management tool to increase eider duckling survival by comparing apparent survival rates during the pre-treatment and treatment periods. During the 2021 and 2022 seasons, we baited a total of 346 gull nests with DRC 1339, while in 2023 we switched methods to targeted shooting. During the same period (2021-23), we tagged and tracked an additional 60 adult hen eiders to obtain weekly brood counts. We documented a marked increase in eider ducklings surviving to fledge in 2021 compared to 2016-2020 seasons (42% apparent survival in 2021 compared to a previous high of 22%). The 2022 season resulted in extremely low apparent duckling survival (1%), potentially related to especially high rates of HPAI circulating in the environment, providing an indication of the potential severity of HPAI to common eider duckling survival. Survival in 2023 rebounded to 30%, however, we documented 52% apparent survival at a nearby control site with fewer gulls than at the treatment colony.

Daniel Rizzolo, Paul Flint, Kate Martin, and Neesha Stellrecht

Daniel Rizzolo

We examined rates of lead exposure (blood lead > 0.2 ppm) in Spectacled Eiders on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta using blood samples collected during the breeding season 2018–2022 to compare with rates measured in the 1990s. In the 1990s, eiders were exposed to lead from spent shotgun pellets ingested while feeding in ponds with an estimated regional exposure rate of 11.8% and observed local exposure rates ranging 3–28%. We expected exposure rates to have declined given that in the decades since lead exposure was last examined, regulations prohibiting the use of lead shotgun ammunition have been in place, outreach and lead-for-steel ammunition exchange programs have been implemented, and experimental studies indicated that previously deposited lead pellets likely have settled in ponds and become unavailable to feeding eiders. Contrary to our expectation, lead exposure rates measured in 226 blood samples collected from 3 sites remained similar to those observed in the 1990s indicating continued illegal use of lead ammunition during the past decade and/or that lead pellets remain available to feeding eiders for very long periods of time. The temporal pattern of exposure was similar to the 1990s with exposure rate increasing with time spent on the breeding area. These results indicate the regulation of lead shotgun ammunition has likely been ineffective and lead poisoning likely continues to impact Spectacled Eiders despite 30 years of protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Tori Mezebish Quinn

Tori Mezebish Quinn

Tori Mezebish Quinn, Peter Paton, Jennifer Kilburn, Scott McWilliams

Tori Mezebish Quinn

Greater scaup (Aythya marila) are a circumpolar diving duck that breed in tundra habitats and winter in coastal areas along both North American coasts where human development exposes the species to anthropogenic pressures. The overall goals of this project are to quantify the effects of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the seasonal and annual movements and habitat selection of greater scaup wintering in Southern New England’s coastal waters. During February and March 2023, we deployed 28 implanted GPS-GSM transmitters in greater scaup in coastal Rhode Island (adult males: n = 16, juvenile males: n = 1, adult females: n = 9, juvenile females: n = 2). Twenty individuals provided data through initiation of spring migration. Individuals remained in Southern New England for on average 24 days following release (range = 3 – 43 days) during which they often moved up to 15 km among multiple large congregations of scaup in protected harbors and inlets in northern Narragansett Bay. Mean spring migration initiation date was 22 March 2023 (range = 7 March –9 April 2023) and individuals were tracked for 42 days on average (range = 11 – 71 days) during spring migration before migrating beyond cellular networks. Spring migration paths varied among individuals, with 4 migrating along the eastern maritime states and provinces, 3 migrating through the intermountain lakes of New England with stops at Lake Champlain, USA and the St. Lawrence River, QC, and 13 migrating through the Great Lakes region before continuing northwest. Future project plans include quantifying the relative influence of anthropogenic factors on the winter habitat selection and annual cycle phenology of Southern New England’s greater scaup. This research will inform management strategies that minimize potential human conflict for greater scaup and sea duck species that winter in coastal estuaries.

Olivia MC. Trudeau, Eric M. Anderson

Olivia MC. Trudeau

Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) are a sea duck species of conservation concern, yet reasons behind their precipitous population decline remain poorly understood. Given the relative importance of winter-feeding conditions to Surf Scoters, I investigated whether changes in progressively urbanized feeding sites in the Salish Sea may be limiting their survival and recovery. First, I compared changes in body condition using body mass and plasma triglyceride metrics between two time periods (2001-2008 versus 2021-2022) and across over-wintering sites characterized by distinct feeding habitats: (1) mixed-hard bottom sites dominated by Bay mussels (Mytilus trossulus), (2) soft-bottom sites with eelgrass, and (3) soft-bottom unvegetated sites. Second, I assessed the relationship between Surf Scoter abundance and mussel density at a feeding site heavily used by scoters in early winter. Seasonal changes in body mass and plasma triglycerides were evident, and suggest that mixed-hard bottom, mussel-dominated sites are an important feeding habitat for Surf Scoters in early winter. I found no significant difference in scoter body mass among past and present time periods and found no significant relationship between Surf Scoter abundance and mussel density across years, suggesting that Surf Scoter body condition is resilient to some changes in feeding profitability. In addition, results from my mussel surveys did not suggest that the 2021 heat dome had a considerable effect on mussel density. Thus, my results suggest that variation in feeding profitability at wintering sites in the Salish Sea is unlikely to have been a key contributor to long-term population declines. However, I propose that there may be a threshold beyond which declines in winter feeding conditions could constrain Surf Scoter population dynamics. Other stressors occurring within wintering areas (e.g., pollution, direct human disturbance) or factors occurring outside of the winter period (e.g., breeding habitat loss and degradation) may be contributing to Surf Scoter declines. This work highlights the need for additional research, monitoring, and conservation efforts focused on protecting vital nearshore marine habitats in the Salish Sea.

Luke J. Fara, William Beatty, Mark Koneff, Drew Fowler, Taylor Finger, Kyle Landolt, Benjamin Finley, Janis Ruhser, Brian Gray, Steven Houdek, Aaron Wright, and Greg Marchel

Luke J. Fara

Aerial ocular surveys are a cost and time-efficient method to evaluate the relative abundance and spatial distributions of waterfowl.  However, many ocular survey methods are subject to substantial visibility bias and correction factors must be calculated for incomplete detection.  Calculation of visibility correction factors in remote or hard to access places, such as open water environments, is difficult but new technologies offer a means to estimate them.  During fall 2021, we used the advanced remote sensing capabilities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Division of Migratory Bird Management and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources ocular survey crew to collect data to estimate visibility correction factors for waterfowl staging on the Wisconsin waters of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan.  During two and half flight missions we captured high-resolution digital imagery (e.g., 1-1.5 cm) at 305 meters above ground level in one plane, while a second plane followed along the same transect conducting a blind double observer ocular survey at 61 meters above ground level.  Avian targets within the collected imagery will be annotated to the lowest possible taxonomic level (e.g., species) and used to estimate visibility correction factors, along with associated uncertainties at different spatial and temporal scales for multiple species of waterfowl.  In addition, annotated imagery will be incorporated with existing databases for training machine learning algorithms that would automate enumeration and classification of targets from remotely sensed data.  Estimation of visibility correction factors, leading to more accurate estimates, is important for agencies that are conducting aerial surveys over open water environments to assess waterfowl abundance and distributions during the non-breeding time period.

Micah W. C. Miller, James R. Lovvorn, Nathan R. Graff, Neesha C. Stellrecht, Mark J. Lara, and Christian Andresen

Micah W. C. Miller

How animals select habitats for various aspects of their annual cycle is a fundamental driver of survival and reproductive success.  For long-lived migratory birds, choice of nest sites likely involves a broad diversity of cues in an often rapidly changing environment.  Such decisions occur at multiple spatial scales, and among abiotic, vegetative, and social components of the landscape.  Over three decades (1991‒2022), we located 1600 nests of four species of sea ducks breeding in lowland tundra of the Alaskan Arctic: long-tailed ducks (Clangula hyemalis) and Steller’s (Polysticta stelleri), spectacled (Somateria fischeri), and king (S. spectabilis) eiders.  We compared habitat characteristics around nests with random locations to assess site selection among years at six spatial scales from ~1 m to 2750 m away from nests.  Our use of machine learning models for each duck species allowed us to consider an exceptionally wide range of habitat characteristics at multiple scales, while avoiding the parametric constraints and assumptions of linear relationships inherent in commonly used resource selection functions.  Our results indicate that suitable habitats comprised a small fraction of total area that varied considerably in location while changing little in total extent among years.  Fine-scale spatial relationships with other birds, especially with other nesting ducks, were consistently important for defining suitable habitat for all the study species, and were more influential than physical or other ecological features.  Thus, nesting habitat assessments must consider the local community of birds as well as the focal species.  As these tundra nesting habitats are impacted by climate change and other anthropogenic factors including petroleum development and urban expansion, conservation for these sensitive sea duck species should include broad areas that encompass annual shifts in the spatial mosaic of suitable nesting habitats.

David Douglas

David Douglas

The ability to acquire long-term environmental data at specific areas and on specific dates has become remarkably efficient over the past decade. A growing number of servers are providing end-users with tools that deliver spatial, temporal, and thematic subsets of long-term global datasets that are often too large to download in their entirely. Three sources that I have found to be especially useful are: 1) Europe’s Copernicus services (https://www.copernicus.eu/); 2) NOAA Coastwatch’s ERDDAP interfaces (https://coastwatch.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/); and 3) Movebank’s Env-DATA tool (https://www.movebank.org/). Popular long-term ocean data include metrics such as sea surface temperature, productivity (Chl-a), currents and sea ice, while several global reanalysis data sets provide a variety of high temporal frequency (1–6 hour) weather variables such as air temperature, wind, precipitation, and snow. The weather and sea surface temperature data date back to the 1980s or earlier while most other ocean metrics commence around the year 2000. As climate warming imposes a new era of unprecedented environmental disequilibrium, it is crucial to better understand how species, food webs, and ultimately ecosystems will respond if science is to have an effective role in adaptation. Analyzing species responses to contemporary environmental conditions, and with respect to conditions of prior decades, will help formulate important mechanistic hypotheses that future studies can test, refine, and ultimately use for developing adaptation strategies.

Oliver Love, Grant Gilchrist, and Christina Semeniuk

Juliet S. Lamb

Kayla A. Shively, Rebecca L. McGuire, and Martin Robards

Kayla A. Shively

The Arctic coastline is undergoing rapid and accelerating change in response to climate warming, altering ecosystem function. For species spending their life cycles in remote habitats, our understanding of the consequences of environmental changes remains limited. Pacific Common Eiders breeding on barrier islands in Arctic Alaska are under threat from sea level rise, increased storm surges that overwash islands during the nesting period, and changing predator communities. To address these risks, the Wildlife Conservation Society began a nest monitoring study on barrier islands in the Chukchi Sea. During four summers between 2016 and 2023, islands bordering the Kasegaluk Lagoon were censused for nesting eiders. During which, reproductive metrics and micro-site variables were recorded. We examine the effects of varying nest site characteristics on Common Eider reproductive parameters to better understand how current and projected changes to barrier island nesting grounds will affect breeding productivity. We contextualize our findings with prior surveys in this region and similar studies along the Beaufort Sea coastline. We highlight an expansive existing body of knowledge regarding Pacific Common Eider breeding ecology on Alaska’s Arctic Coast and the urgent need to synthesize and disseminate this knowledge to researchers, policy makers, and stakeholders.

Emily C. MacDonald, Christina A. D. Semeniuk, H. Grant Gilchrist, and Oliver P. Love

Emily C. MacDonald

Rising ambient temperatures driven by climate change may increase endotherms’ risk of thermal stress, proximately impacting their physiology and behaviour, and ultimately, fitness. Cold-specialist species may be particularly at risk of over-heating, as they adaptively retain heat to survive cold environments. Within this framework, I am examining changes in heart rate (proxy for metabolic demand) and incubation behaviour of nesting common eiders (Somataria mollissima) - an arctic-breeding sea duck that fasts during their ~25-day incubation on sun- exposed nests - as a response to thermal stress and overheating. In the summers of 2019, 2022, and 2023, we substituted one egg with a previously validated 3D-printed replica containing a heart rate recording microphone in focal nests (N = 62; n= 12, 14 and 36, respectively) during laying at a long-term breeding colony in the East Bay (Qaqsauqtuuq) Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Nunavut. We also recorded incubation behaviour with in-nest thermal probes and collected ambient/radiative temperatures using weather monitoring equipment at each nest site and across the island, with each year differing in their maximum seasonal ambient temperatures attained (19.8oC – 26.7oC). We will be examining the relationship between variation in environmental parameters, heart rate (i.e., metabolic energy expenditure) and incubation behaviour (nest-attendance and agitation) within and between years to determine whether incubating eider hens are thermally stressed. My findings will characterize the direct impacts of climatic warming on the energetic and behavioural costs of breeding in a cold-adapted sea duck, thus providing insight into their vulnerability of over-heating and informing timely management strategies.

Dan Esler, W. Sean Boyd

Dan Esler

Delineation of populations into units that are meaningful for management or are evolutionarily significant has been an important topic in wildlife conservation, including for sea ducks. Numerous techniques have been applied to understanding sea duck population delineation, including direct measures of dispersal and migratory connectivity, using tracking devices and band recoveries, and methods that measure the potential results or indicators of those movement processes, such as genetics, morphometrics, and stable isotopes. Most of these data types have been collected for Barrow’s Goldeneyes (Bucephala islandica), which allows for an unusual opportunity to compare the inferences derived from each. Several lines of evidence indicate that populations are discrete at a continental scale (i.e., Pacific North America, Atlantic North America, and Iceland), as well as differentiated into subpopulations within the Pacific range, which constitutes the vast majority of the global population. These data include band recoveries, movements based on satellite telemetry, and mitochondrial DNA. Conversely, morphometric measures and nuclear DNA do not differ across the species range. We conclude that Barrow’s goldeneyes can be delineated into subpopulations that are largely demographically independent and meaningful as management units, and offer interpretations why not all data types are consistent.

David E. Safine, Erik E. Osnas, Charles Frost, Heather M. Wilson, Michael A. Swaim and Julian B. Fischer

David E. Safine

Spectacled eiders breed in three primary locations: the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) and the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of Alaska, and Arctic Russia. In 1993, the species was listed as Threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act primarily due to a rapid population decline on the YKD. After listing and until ~2010, there was an increase in the YKD population (as observed in the YKD Coastal Zone Aerial Survey indicated total bird index).  At times the population was increasing at up to 8% per year. After 2010, the population appeared to stabilize, recently (2021-2023), the index was down >50% from its high point. In contrast, the ACP breeding population (as observed in the ACP breeding pair aerial survey) has been stable to slightly declining since listing, but similar to the YKD, the indicated total bird index dropped considerably in recent years (2022 and 2023; no data in 2020 or 2021). Aerial survey design and implementation factors will also be discussed. Ground-based transect surveys for nests on the YKD in 2022 indicated about half the number of nests compared to recent plot-based surveys. The recent declines in breeding pair and nest indices on the YKD and ACP are concerning, and push this species further from achieving recovery criteria. Causes of the recent decreases are unknown but may include reduced breeding effort, population size, or changes in distribution. 

Randall J. Friendly, Mark Lindberg, Todd Brinkman, Christa Mulder, Daniel J. Rizzolo

Randall J. Friendly

Climate change in the Arctic is occurring more rapidly than anywhere on the globe and the changes in the marine environment can impact the distribution and abundance of Arctic and sub-Arctic species. Understanding how a species responds to climate change can aid conservation planning and recovery. Spectacled eiders (Somateria fischeri), a threatened species, winter in the Bering Sea and nest along coastal areas of Alaska and Arctic Russia. The severity of winter conditions in the Bering Sea has been associated with both reduced annual survival and reduced breeding abundance and may have sublethal effects during the breeding season. In this study, we used long-term nest monitoring data from Kigigak Island and Utqiaġvik to examine the hypothesis that winter conditions in the Bering Sea influence the reproductive performance of eiders in the following breeding season. For both sites, we examined the effects of winter ice conditions and spring temperature and wind on nest initiation date, clutch size, and nest survival. Nest initiation date was not strongly associated with conditions experienced prior to the breeding season and the difference in mean initiation date between sites was 20 days. We found no evidence that winter and spring conditions preceding the breeding season explained variation in clutch size, suggesting that breeding propensity may buffer against carryover effects on clutch size. Nest survival varied by year site. Low ice cover during winter was associated with lower nest survival and moderate to high ice cover was associated with higher nest survival. We speculate that low sea ice winters reduce nest survival through negative effects on body condition. Negative effects of changing ice conditions on multiple demographic rates may lead to future population declines for spectacled eiders at rates higher than previously predicted.

Micah W. C. Miller, James R. Lovvorn, Nathan R. Graff, Neesha C. Stellrecht, and Steven P. Plesh

Micah W. C. Miller

Wetlands in Arctic tundra support abundant breeding waterbirds. Wetland types differing in area, depth, vegetation, and invertebrate biomass density may vary in importance to birds, and in vulnerability to climate change. We studied availability and use of different wetland types by pre-laying females of four species of sea ducks (Mergini) breeding on the Arctic Coastal Plain of Alaska, USA: long-tailed ducks (Clangula hyemalis) and Steller's (Polysticta stelleri), spectacled (Somateria fischeri), and king eiders (Somateria spectabilis). All four species preferred shallow vegetated wetlands versus deeper lakes. The ducks spent almost all their active time feeding, but their occurrence in different wetland types was not affected by the relative biomass density of known prey or of all invertebrates that we sampled combined. Sea ducks strongly preferred wetlands dominated by emergent and submersed Arctophila fulva over those dominated by the sedge Carex aquatilis, despite the much greater number, total area, and invertebrate biomass density of Carex wetlands. The hens depend heavily on local invertebrate prey for protein to produce eggs; thus, their preference for Arctophila wetlands likely reflects greater accessibility of prey in the near-surface canopy and detritus of Arctophila. Such shallow wetlands decreased substantially in number (−17%) and area (−30%) over 62 years before 2013 and appear highly susceptible to further declines with climate warming. Impacts on sea ducks of climate-driven changes in availability of important wetland types will depend on their adaptability in exploiting alternative wetlands.

Tim Bowman

Tim Bowman

Steven P. Plesh, James R. Lovvorn, and Micah W. C. Miller

Steven P. Plesh

Arctic lowland tundra is often dominated by wetlands that support various breeding waterbirds, including sensitive populations of sea ducks. As numbers and types of these wetlands change with climate warming, availability of their invertebrate assemblages to breeding sea ducks may be negatively impacted. Increased influx of nutrients and dissolved organic matter from thawing peat may alter the relative availability of organic matter (OM) sources, differentially affecting taxa with disparate dependence on those sources. In five shallow wetland types (>110 cm deep) and in deeper lakes (>150 cm), we used stable isotopes (δ13C, δ15N) to compare contributions of four OM sources (periphytic microalgae, cyanobacteria, macrophytes, peat) to the diets of nine macroinvertebrate taxa. Our results indicate that invertebrate assemblages depended heavily on consumption of microalgae in all wetland types (39–82% of OM contributions, mean 59%) except deeper lakes (20‒62%, mean 31%). Abundance of nutrients, light, and CO2 from bacterial respiration is expected to remain high in these shallow arctic ponds; thus, prominence of microalgae in these food webs will likely be unchanged. We also investigated differences in invertebrate community structure and biomass among these wetland types. Wetlands dominated by Arctophila and Carex had the greatest evenness among taxa, compared to Streams or Deep Open Lakes. Although relative use of OM sources was similar across wetland types, total invertebrate biomass was much higher in shallow wetlands with emergent vegetation (Carex or Arctophila). From 1948 to 2013, such wetlands decreased by 17% in number and 30% in area. Our results suggest that impacts of warming on the availability of invertebrate prey to sea ducks will likely depend not on shifts in OM sources, but more on changes in overall number or area of shallow emergent wetlands."

Anastasia M. Maliguine, Tuula E. Hollmen, Courtney L. Amundson, and Brenda H. Konar

Anastasia M. Maliguine

Izembek Lagoon, located in the Alaskan southern Bering Sea, is designated as critical molting and wintering habitat for the Alaska-breeding population of Steller’s eiders (Polysticta stelleri), listed as Threatened under the United States Endangered Species Act. Izembek Lagoon is also an important stopover site for many other species of migratory water birds. Since the early 1980s, there has been a decline of Steller’s eiders in their known nonbreeding range in the southern Bering Sea, but especially in Izembek Lagoon where eiders undergo their remigial molt during the fall. The cause of this decline is unknown, however, in recent years higher sea temperatures have been observed in Izembek Lagoon and warming ocean temperatures have been associated with shifts in benthic community structure elsewhere. If forage conditions are less favorable in Izembek Lagoon, eiders may redistribute to other locations or the population at Izembek Lagoon may decline. Therefore, in 2018 and 2019, we replicated a benthic sampling effort conducted by the United States Geological Survey in 1998 to understand if prey availability could be less favorable to eiders during their molt in Izembek Lagoon. We compared forage conditions based on the relative biomass (%) and overall biomass (g/m2) of marine benthic groups: Bivalvia, Gastropoda, Crustacea, and Polychaeta, and compared size (mm) of organisms belonging to these groups between the two time periods. Our results suggest a shift in benthic community composition and change in biomass and size of benthic prey. The community shifted from being dominated by bivalves in 1998 to predominantly polychaetes in 2018 and 2019. In addition to a reduction of bivalve biomass in 2019, bivalves and gastropods were significantly smaller. This study provides a contemporary assessment of forage conditions in a critical habitat for Steller’s eiders.

Lindsay Veazey, Tuula Hollmen, and Chris Latty

Lindsay Veazey

Rapidly developing data storage technologies allow scientists to collect massive amounts of high-quality imagery of incubating sea ducks. While these data are rich with potential insights, manual review can be cumbersome and slow. We have developed a proof-of-concept computer vision pipeline to accelerate analyses of common eider (Somateria mollissima) incubation behavior. The model is trained on images of common eiders from nest camera recordings taken around the North Slope of Alaska. Our model can identify and track the coordinate-based onscreen movements of female common eiders in novel videos with over 99% accuracy, which automates measurements of incubation constancy. The coordinate-based tracking capability of the model allows us to categorize probable behaviors based on anatomical changes (e.g., threatened head posturing, actively incubating, flushing). This approach is a promising first step towards creating methods that can be applied to process imagery data for eiders and other sea duck species. We plan to build on this project by testing how the model performs on imagery where birds are filmed at various differences from the recording device.

Jacob Hewitt, Jason N. Straub, and Anthony J. Roberts

Jacob Hewitt

Components of breeding productivity and survival rates in avian populations respond to dynamic environmental stressors across the annual cycle, which therein shape population dynamics over time. In sea ducks (Tribe Mergini), few studies have characterized the ecological factors that drive annual recruitment trends at the population level over time due to scarce scalable population information. Here, I leveraged historic harvest survey recruitment estimates (juvenile proportions) and indicators of environmental conditions at breeding, staging, and wintering areas from 1980-2017 to investigate factors influencing annual recruitment rates in eastern North American populations of Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis), Black Scoters (Melanitta americana), White-winged Scoters (M. delgandi) and Surf Scoters (M. perspicilatta). Recruitment rates in multiple species were positively associated with mean ambient temperatures at staging and breeding areas during spring. This supported my hypothesis that pre-nesting ice cover in key habitats limits breeding productivity by delaying breeding phenology and causing declines in female body condition. Surf Scoter recruitment had a strong negative association with Great Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa) irruptive migrations, suggesting surf scoters experience intensified predation pressure during low phases of vole population cycles and incur lower nest and brood survival rates. North Atlantic Oscillation patterns and staging area mean ambient temperatures in autumn showed associations with sea duck recruitment, suggesting harsh weather conditions post-fledging may precipitate early migratory movements that reduce juvenile survival rates or elicit greater proportions of adult sea ducks in subsequent harvests. My findings highlight important relationships between sea duck annual recruitment and ecological factors that may have considerable consequences for sea duck populations as ecosystems and climatic patterns undergo significant changes in the future.

Fritz Reid, Chief Steven Nitah of the Aikatcho Nation

Juliet S. Lamb

Emily Silverman

Juliet S. Lamb