ESTABLISHING A BREEDING EIDER DUCK POPULATION IN MASSACHUSETTS

ABSTRACT In an effort to make a waterfowl population with a limited breeding range—Maine to the Canadian Maritimes—less vulnerable to local catastrophe from petroleum activities, a population of common eiders (Somateria mollissima dressesi) was transplanted from Maine to Massachusetts. The objective of the relocation of the eiders was to see if a population of seabirds could successfully be moved from an area subject to petroleum activities to a new breeding ground. This move involved taking a group of birds from its existing breeding ground to a nonbreeding territory and establishing another breeding population. Such wildlife management techniques could contribute to increasing the reproductive potential of birds lost to oil spills, thus decreasing the need for high-cost oiled bird rehabilitation, which is often ecologically unsound. From 1973 to 1975, adult eiders and eggs were collected from Casco Bay, Maine. Eggs were hatched and hand-reared for several weeks both at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and on Penikese Island in Massachusetts. The birds were released on Penikese in Buzzard's Bay, about 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of their known breeding range, but in an area of habitat similar to that of the islands of Casco Bay. An acclimation program included rearing the birds at the release site for one to three weeks and introducing a saltwater environment and natural foods to the birds. The released eiders began breeding in 1976 on Penikese and have since colonized at least three nearby islands. By 1988 the population had increased to an estimated 200 breeding pairs.

Download Full-text

The food and feeding of common eiders in the St. Lawrence estuary in summer

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z74-039 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 52 (3) ◽

pp. 319-334 ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

M. Cantin ◽

J. Bédard ◽

H. Milne

Keyword(s):

Intertidal Zone ◽

Maximum Growth ◽

Somateria Mollissima ◽

Lawrence Estuary ◽

Common Eiders ◽

Feeding Activities ◽

Food And Feeding ◽

South Shore ◽

Natural Foods ◽

St Lawrence Estuary

The study was conducted in the St. Lawrence estuary during 1969 and 1970. The food abundance in the intertidal zone was measured in four Sampling stations located on the south shore of the river; the measurements revealed that over 95% of the available food of the common eider (Somateria mollissima) consisted of Littorina spp., Mytilus edulis, and Gammarus oceanicus. Both adult and young birds showed a distinct rhythm of feeding activities associated with tidal level. During the prenesting period, herring eggs and Nereis virens made up most of the food of adult common eiders. When accompanying ducklings, females ate mostly Littorina spp. and amphipods. Littorina spp. made up between 30 and 97% of the diet of the ducklings, the importance of this gastropod growing with age of the bird. Energy requirements during maximum growth were evaluated at about 460 kcal/bird per day on ducklings (age 54 days) fed natural foods, while between week 3 and week 8 it stood at about 520 kcal/bird per day in ducklings fed "turkey starter." These figures were used to assess the importance of the food removed by the eiders from the intertidal zone during the summer. We conclude that between 10 and 30% (according to the area) of the standing-crop biomass of Littorina alone (in July) is removed by the ducklings and the females accompanying them. At various moments through the season, these birds remove between 40 and 100 metric tons of mollusks per day from the intertidal zone.

Download Full-text

Herd immunity drives the epidemic fadeout of avian cholera in Arctic-nesting seabirds

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-79888-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jacintha G. B. van Dijk ◽

Samuel A. Iverson ◽

H. Grant Gilchrist ◽

N. Jane Harms ◽

Holly L. Hennin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colony Size ◽

Pasteurella Multocida ◽

Herd Immunity ◽

Reproductive Number ◽

Somateria Mollissima ◽

Common Eiders ◽

Serological Status ◽

Antibody Titers ◽

Avian Cholera

AbstractAvian cholera, caused by the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, is a common and important infectious disease of wild birds in North America. Between 2005 and 2012, avian cholera caused annual mortality of widely varying magnitudes in Northern common eiders (Somateria mollissima borealis) breeding at the largest colony in the Canadian Arctic, Mitivik Island, Nunavut. Although herd immunity, in which a large proportion of the population acquires immunity to the disease, has been suggested to play a role in epidemic fadeout, immunological studies exploring this hypothesis have been missing. We investigated the role of three potential drivers of fadeout of avian cholera in eiders, including immunity, prevalence of infection, and colony size. Each potential driver was examined in relation to the annual real-time reproductive number (Rt) of P. multocida, previously calculated for eiders at Mitivik Island. Each year, colony size was estimated and eiders were closely monitored, and evaluated for infection and serological status. We demonstrate that acquired immunity approximated using antibody titers to P. multocida in both sexes was likely a key driver for the epidemic fadeout. This study exemplifies the importance of herd immunity in influencing the dynamics and fadeout of epidemics in a wildlife population.

Download Full-text

Body and organ mass dynamics during remigial moult in a wing–foot-propelled diving sea duck: the Common Eider (Atlantic) (Somateria mollissima dresseri)

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/cjz-2015-0062 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 93 (10) ◽

pp. 755-764 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

A. Viain ◽

M. Guillemette ◽

J.-P.L. Savard

Keyword(s):

Muscle Mass ◽

Body Mass ◽

Flight Muscle ◽

Somateria Mollissima ◽

Dabbling Ducks ◽

Diving Ducks ◽

Common Eiders ◽

Sea Duck ◽

Remigial Moult ◽

Atrophy Of The Heart

Body and organ dynamics, during remigial moult, have been mainly explored on geese, dabbling ducks, and foot-propelled diving ducks, but weakly on sea ducks. This study investigated the internal changes in a wing–foot-propelled sea duck to determine the adaptive strategies implemented. Forty-five male Common Eiders (Atlantic) (Somateria mollissima dresseri Sharpe, 1871), collected in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, were dissected; their body mass, muscle mass, and organ sizes were measured. We tested three hypotheses: (1) S. m. dresseri use a strategic reduction of body mass to reduce the flightlessness duration; (2) organs will exhibit changes consistent with a trade-off between function and maintenance to save and reallocate energy and proteins to feather growth; (3) S. m. dresseri would show lower flight muscle reduction than foot-propelled diving ducks. Somateria mollissima dresseri did not lose body mass, which does not support the first hypothesis. Atrophy of the heart followed by hypertrophy and opposite changes in leg muscle mass and gizzard mass are consistent with the second hypothesis. Flight muscle mass showed lower variations than in other ducks, validating the third hypothesis. We also suggest that the lipid depletion observed early in the moult could be a strategy to reduce foraging effort and minimize the risk of damaging the growing feathers.

Download Full-text

Seroprevalence of avian influenza in Baltic common eiders (Somateria mollissima) and pink-footed geese (Anser brachyrhynchus)

Environment International ◽

10.1016/j.envint.2020.105873 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 142 ◽

pp. 105873 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Su Shiung Lam ◽

Rune Skjold Tjørnløv ◽

Ole Roland Therkildsen ◽

Thomas Kjær Christensen ◽

Jesper Madsen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Avian Influenza ◽

Somateria Mollissima ◽

Anser Brachyrhynchus ◽

Common Eiders

Download Full-text

Common Eider (Somateria Mollissima) Body Condition and Parasitic Load during a Mortality Event in the Baltic Proper

Avian Biology Research ◽

10.3184/175815618x15263798903780 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 167-172 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Svend-Erik Garbus ◽

Peter Lyngs ◽

Jens Peter Christensen ◽

Kurt Buchmann ◽

Igor Eulaers ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Mass ◽

High Mortality ◽

Physiological Stress ◽

Morphological Changes ◽

Somateria Mollissima ◽

Common Eiders ◽

Baltic Proper ◽

Average Body Mass ◽

The Baltic ◽

Average Body

During late spring of 2007 and 2015, we observed unusually high mortality of Common Eiders (Somateria mollissima) on Christiansø in the Baltic Proper. The number of dead birds (2007: 125; 2015: 110) composed 5–10% of the total colony. In 2015, we collected 15 (12 adult females, three subadult males) of the 110 recently deceased Common Eiders for detailed autopsy. The average body mass of the females was 1,040 g (920–1,160 g) which is ca 60% lower than what can be expected of healthy females during wintertime. Similarly, for the subadult males the average body mass of 1,203 g (1,070–1,300 g) comprised only 45% of what can be expected for healthy subadult males during winter. All 15 birds were thus severely emaciated and cachexic with general atrophy of muscles and internal organs. Hunger oedema, distended gall bladder, empty stomach, empty and dilated intestines and dilated cardiomyopathy were observed as well. In addition, all 15 Common Eiders were infected with high loads of the acanthocephalan parasite Polymorphus minutus. No gross morphological changes suggested toxicological, bacteriological or viral causes to the mortality. Taken together, our autopsy suggested starvation leading to secondary metabolic catabolism and eventually congestive heart failure. Five birds that were examined in 2007 showed the same symptoms. We suspect that the introduction of suboptimal feeding conditions in combination with a high parasite load over the last decade synergistically caused high physiological stress leading to population level effects manifested as high mortality.

Download Full-text

Body mass, mercury exposure, biochemistry and untargeted metabolomics of incubating common eiders (Somateria mollissima) in three Baltic colonies

Environment International ◽

10.1016/j.envint.2020.105866 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 142 ◽

pp. 105866 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nyuk Ling Ma ◽

Martin Hansen ◽

Ole Roland Therkildsen ◽

Thomas Kjær Christensen ◽

Rune Skjold Tjørnløv ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Mass ◽

Mercury Exposure ◽

Untargeted Metabolomics ◽

Somateria Mollissima ◽

Common Eiders

Download Full-text

Genetic and archaeological evidence for a former breeding population of Aleutian Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii leucopareia) on Adak Island, central Aleutians, Alaska

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z11-027 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 89 (8) ◽

pp. 732-743 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

B.J. Wilson ◽

S.J. Crockford ◽

J.W. Johnson ◽

R.S. Malhi ◽

B.M. Kemp

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Genome ◽

Control Region ◽

Dna Sequences ◽

Archaeological Site ◽

Breeding Population ◽

Cytb Gene ◽

Breeding Ground ◽

Before Present ◽

European Contact ◽

The Past

Many well-preserved bones of medium-sized goose have been recovered from the Zeto Point archaeological site (ADK-011) on Adak Island in the central Aleutians, Alaska, that date to ca. 170–415 years before present based on conventional radiometric dates of the deposits. This prehistoric sample includes remains of adults and unfledged goslings that defied confident identification based on osteological criteria. While the presence of newborns indicates that Adak was a breeding ground, which species was doing the nesting remained uncertain. Of the five species of medium-sized goose (order Anseriformes, family Anatidae) known or presumed to visit Adak Island, three are rarely sighted. The only common visitor is the Emperor Goose ( Chen canagica (Sevastianov, 1802)). The Aleutian Cackling Goose ( Branta hutchinsii leucopareia (Brandt, 1836)) breeds elsewhere in the Aleutians but does not currently breed on Adak Island and there are no records of it nesting there in the past. Here DNA sequences from portions of the cytochrome b (cytb) gene and the control region (CR) of the mitochondrial genome were recovered from 28 of 29 Adak prehistoric goose remains. All adult specimens identified to species were either C. canagica or B. h. leuopareia, but all specifically identified juvenile specimens were B. h. leuopareia. The results demonstrate that Adak Island was a breeding ground of the Aleutian Cackling Goose prior to European contact.

Download Full-text

Annual variation in common eider egg size: effects of temperature, clutch size, laying date, and laying sequence

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z95-188 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 73 (9) ◽

pp. 1579-1587 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Gregory J. Robertson

Keyword(s):

Clutch Size ◽

Egg Size ◽

Annual Variation ◽

Size Variation ◽

Egg Laying ◽

Laying Date ◽

Somateria Mollissima ◽

Ambient Temperatures ◽

Common Eiders ◽

N 93

Annual variation in volumes of eggs laid by common eiders (Somateria mollissima sedentaria) nesting at La Pérouse Bay, Manitoba (58°43′N, 93°27′W), was studied over 3 years (1991–1993). Temperatures during the egg-laying period were higher in 1991 than in 1992 and 1993. However, the eiders began nesting in 1993 at the same time as in 1991, whereas in 1992 the eiders began laying approximately 2 weeks later. Eiders laid significantly smaller clutches in 1992 than in the other 2 years. Egg size did not correlate with clutch size or laying date in any year. However, eiders laid smaller eggs in 1992 and 1993 than in 1991. In five egg clutches, the pattern of intraclutch egg-size variation was different among years. The last laid eggs of five egg clutches were disproportionately smaller in 1992 and 1993 (cold years) than those laid in 1991. Minimum daily temperatures before the egg-laying period (during rapid yolk development) were positively correlated with egg size. However, this effect was not significant when year and egg sequence were controlled for. Egg-size variation was correlated with the overall ambient temperatures during the laying period, whereas annual clutch-size variation was correlated with laying date, suggesting that the proximate mechanisms affecting clutch and egg size are different.

Download Full-text