Migration characteristics of long-tailed ducks (Clangula hyemalis) from the western Canadian Arctic

Abstract

There are significant deposits of oil and gas in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, and many long-tailed ducks (Clangula hyemalis) spend a large portion of their annual cycle in that region, but little is known about their migration patterns. Consequently, we used satellite telemetry to track movements and reveal migration routes and staging areas of 57 long-tailed ducks from the western Canadian Arctic. After molting, all ducks moved westward along the Beaufort Sea coast of Canada and Alaska, into the Chukchi and Bering Seas and the North Pacific, staging at various locations. Long-tailed ducks wintered throughout the North Pacific region as far south as British Columbia, Canada on the North American side and Japan and South Korea on the Asian side, a distribution similar to long-tailed ducks marked with transmitters in Alaska. Spring migration of long-tailed ducks was generally a reversal of fall migration, following Alaskan and Asian coastlines north and eastward to breeding areas in Northwest Territories, Canada, with the exception of two females that travelled to Russia and one male and one female that stopped in northwestern Alaska for the breeding period. Migratory patterns of ducks from this study displayed both similarities and variations to other species breeding in the Arctic, e.g., eiders. However, similar to eiders, long-tailed ducks were in or near offshore oil and gas lease areas of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas for significant portions of their annual life cycle, making them vulnerable to impacts from exploration and development in that region.