Resources related to Migratory Bird Law

To fly or not to fly: high flight costs in a large sea duck do not imply an expensive lifestyle

A perennial question in ornithology is whether flight has evolved mostly to facilitate access to food or as an anti-predator strategy. However, flight is an expensive mode of locomotion and species using flight regularly are associated with an expensive lifestyle. Using heart rate (HR) data loggers implanted in 13 female common eiders (Somateria mollissima), our objective was to test the hypothesis that a high level of flight activity increases their energy budget.

To fly or not to fly: high flight costs in a large sea duck do not imply an expensive lifestyle

Implications of Demographic Uncertainty for Harvest Management of North American Sea Ducks

In 2010, the Sea Duck Joint Venture (SDJV) identified the need for improved science support for harvest and habitat management of North American sea ducks.
In order to prioritize monitoring and research needs in support of harvest management, we applied a Prescribed Take Level (PTL) framework to assess the influence of uncertainty about sea duck demographic
parameters on comparisons of observed and allowable harvest estimates. We focused on 7 populations of North American sea ducks: the American subspecies of common eider (Somateria mollissima dresseri

Implications of Demographic Uncertainty for Harvest Management of North American Sea Ducks

Sea Duck Joint Venture Strategic Communications Plan 2015-2019

The mission of the Sea Duck Joint Venture(SDJV)is to promote the conservation of North American sea ducks through partnerships by providing greater knowledge
and understanding for effective management. SDJV focuses on the 15 species of North American sea ducks on their coastal water habitat for migration and wintering as well as boreal forest and tundra habitat for nesting. Since the JV’s founding in 1998, the four pillars of its work have included science, communications, funding, and conservation.

Sea Duck Joint Venture Strategic Communications Plan 2015-2019

Managing North American Waterfowl in the Face of Uncertainty

Informed management of waterfowl (or any animal population), requires management goals and objectives, the ability to implement management actions, periodic information about population and goal related variables, and knowledge of effects of management actions on populations and goal related variables. In North American international Treaties mandate a primary objective of protecting migratory bird populations, with a secondary objective of providing hunting opportunity in a manner compatible with such protection.

Managing North American Waterfowl in the Face of Uncertainty

2013 Pacific Flyway Data Book

The following briefing material has been assembled for use by The Pacific Flyway Council, Pacific Flyway Study Committee & Cooperators and by U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
personnel in formulating recommendations for the 2013-2014 waterfowl hunting seasons. This collection of
harvest, population, and hunter data can also serve as a desk-top reference for providing responses to inquiries
from agency personnel, the media, and public.

2013 Pacific Flyway Data Book

Recommendations for Establishing Population Objectives for Sea Ducks

No population objectives are listed for any sea duck population in the most recent (2004) update
or earlier versions of the Plan. The primary reason for lack of sea duck objectives is a lack of
reliable abundance estimates, confounded by inadequate knowledge of sea duck distribution for
some species.
Following a 2008 SDJV progress report to the NAWMP Plan Committee, the PC acknowledged
the need to establish population objectives for sea ducks and stated that this need should be

Recommendations for Establishing Population Objectives for Sea Ducks

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