Report: Counting spectacled eiders in the Bering Sea in low sea ice conditions and summary of previous winter surveys

This USFWS internal report describes the problem of surveying spectacled eiders on their wintering area under conditions of low sea. Low sea ice conditions are not amenable to the photographic census approached used in previous winter surveys because flocks of eiders are too large and difficult to p...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rizzolo, Daniel, Stellrecht, Neesha
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2021
Subjects:
biota, environment, eiders, Spectacled Eiders, monitoring, Population and Habitat Evaluation/Projection
Anchorage
Bering Sea
Brant
Fairbanks
Sea ice
Alaska
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.7944/p9vssow1
https://ecos.fws.gov/ServCat/Reference/Profile/135628
Description
Summary:This USFWS internal report describes the problem of surveying spectacled eiders on their wintering area under conditions of low sea. Low sea ice conditions are not amenable to the photographic census approached used in previous winter surveys because flocks of eiders are too large and difficult to photograph when not confined by openings in the sea ice. This report was written to inform a discussion between personnel in Ecological Services in Fairbanks and Migratory Bird Management in Anchorage of an alternative photographic sampling approach similar to what the Migratory Bird Management program uses with Black Brant Geese along the Alaska Peninsula. This report does not develop or describe the photo sampling approach, it only describes the problem. This report also summarizes all past winter survey (exploratory surveys and quantitative surveys) conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services based on project reports written by Bill Larned.

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