The Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey has been conducted every year since 1955. The primary purpose of the survey is to provide information on spring population size and trajectory for certain North American duck species.
The BBS is a long-term, large-scale, international avian monitoring program initiated in 1966 to track the status and trends of North American bird populations. Each year during the height of the avian breeding season, (June), thousands of dedicated participants skilled in avian identification follow a rigorous protocol, to collect bird population data along 4100 roadside survey routes located across the continental U.S. and Canada. Trend estimates and all raw data are currently available for more than 420 bird species.
We were asked to evaluate the suitability of a turbine powered airplane for waterfowl surveys in interior British Columbia. Previous surveys had been completed by helicopter (Andre Breault, personal communication).
The following briefing material has been assembled for use by the Pacific Flyway Council and by U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
personnel in formulating recommendations for the 2011-2012 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.
A few points to mention with regard to the information contained in this report:
Sea Ducks have been marginalized in Waterfowl conservation and management programs as most attention has been focused on the "sport ducks" notably mallards. In fact much of our understanding of the demography and harvest of ducks is based on the mallard model. Preceived lack of interest in the Sea Ducks had led to liberal management of this group. Large harvests in Southern areas and intense subsistence use in the North have proved a dangerous combination.
Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation 150 pages
Abstract or Introduction
Wiggins, D. (2005, October 17). Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus): a technical conservation assessment. [Online]. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region.
Cooke, Wells. 1906. Distribution and Migration of North American Ducks, Geese and Swans. United States Department of Agriculture Bulletin. No. 26. 46 pp.
This study is a large scale, multi-year, collaborative project that will use satellite telemetry to document annual migration patterns and habitat use. Driven by a lack of knowledge on sea duck distribution, migration patterns, and seasonal habitats used, the Sea Duck Joint Venture (SDJV) partnership has launched a large-scale satellite telemetry study of sea ducks in the Atlantic Flyway. From 2009 to 2013, about 300 transmitters will be deployed in four species: Black Scoter, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, and Long-tailed Duck - all species of high conservation concern.
Diving ducks wintering in Chesapeake Bay during the last 50 years have accounted for 23% of Atlantic Flyway and 9% of North American populations based on aerial surveys. Continental and local factors have affected these population changes. Loss of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) due to degradation of water quality, has been a contributing factor, although, many other factors related to human population increases have been implicated in the changes in the distribution and abundance of diving ducks.