Migration and Habitat Use of Pacific Barrow's Goldeneye Home Migration Maps + Videos Site Fidelity + Range Maps Methods Presentations Contact Principal Investigators Sean Boyd, Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada, 5421 Robertson Road, Delta, BC Dan Esler, Centre for Wildlife Ecology, Simon Fraser University, 5421 Robertson Road, Delta, BC Research Partners Tim Bowman, Sea Duck Joint Venture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1011 E. Tudor Rd., Anchorage, AK Jonathan E. Thompson, Ducks Unlimited Canada, #200-10720 178 Street, Edmonton, AB Introduction Connectivity among annual cycle stages, rates of site fidelity, and the geographic scale of dispersal are largely unknown for Pacific Barrow’s Goldeneye (BAGO).  This precludes researchers from identifying demographically discrete units for population management and understanding the scale of inference from field studies.  Further, habitats and specific sites that may be particularly important for BAGO are difficult to identify, as this species is not well covered by surveys for most of its annual cycle and range. This project aims to fill the above information gaps by using satellite telemetry. More specifically, our research addresses the following questions: 1) What are the rates, and geographic scale, of inter-annual site fidelity by all sex and age classes at various stages of the annual cycle?  2) Do birds from the same breeding site occur in discrete areas during winter, or are they widely distributed, and vice versa?  3) How do the answers to 1 and 2 above combine to indicate demographically distinct management units? 4) Are there important habitats or specific sites that are used by a large proportion of marked birds, which would indicate their value for conservation? From 2006 to 2011, we deployed over 200 satellite transmitters (PTTs) on BAGO at 4 sites as described in the table below and shown in the maps. Follow the links at the top of this page to view maps depicting the migratory routes of BAGO tagged at each site. Maps describing individual migrations and cohort summaries are presented. PTTs deployed Location Season Age + Sex Month Years Riske Creek, BC Breeding Adult males May 2006, 2007, 2008 Adult females Jul 2008, 2009 Hatch-Year males + females Jul, Aug 2008, 2009, 2011 Indian Arm, BC Wintering Adult males + females Feb, Apr 2007, 2011 Cardinal Lake, AB Molting Adult males Aug 2009, 2010 Prince William Sound, AK Wintering Adult males + females Mar 2009 Capture sites Enlarge map Acknowledgements We thank the following individuals for their time, and help during captures: Eric Anderson, David Bradbeer, Rob Butler, Shanti Davis, Rian Dickson, Ty Donnelly, Garry Grigg, Sharon Henry, Danica Hogan, Ryan Hermanutz, Joe and Ellie Jaschke and family, Rod MacVicar, Jamie McDonald, Rod MacVicar, Mark Maftei, Mike Merriam, James Olsen, Eric Palm, Julie Pierce, Jennifer Provencher, Dean Rand, John Reed, Andrew Robinson, Dan Shervill, Robb Stavne, Krystal Tangen, Brian Uher-Koch, Corey Van Stratt, Melanie Wilson, Ken Wright, Chris Wohl, and Robyn Worcester. We thank the Canadian Dept. of National Defense for access to their training area at Riske Creek, BC, and Rod MacVicar for allowing us to use the Reed Point Marine Education Centre facilities to conduct surgeries. Surgery and Veterinarian Services: Dr. Malcolm McAdie, DVM Data download and storage: Sandi Lee, CWS, Environment Canada Map creation, spatial analysis, and website design: Jennifer Barrett, Centre for Wildlife Ecology Photo credits: Ted Smith, Theodore Smith Photography (website); Danica Hogan, Centre for Wildlife Ecology; Sean Boyd, Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada This study is dedicated to Jean-Pierre Savard (JPS) and Garry Grigg (GG). JPS studied the territorial behavior of Pacific Barrow's Goldeneye and often speculated on their post-breeding movements. GG was instrumental in developing capture techniques on both the breeding and wintering grounds. The following agencies provided funding and/or support for the project: