Open AccessHarlequin duck Histrionicus histrionicus population structure in eastern Nearctic
Author(s) -
Brodeur Serge,
Savard JeanPierre L.,
Robert Michel,
Laporte Pierre,
Lamothe Pierre,
Titman Rodger D.,
Marchand Stéphane,
Gilliland Scott,
Fitzgerald Guy
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of avian biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.022
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1600-048X
pISSN - 0908-8857
DOI - 10.1034/j.1600-048x.2002.330202.x
Subject(s) - bay , population , anatidae , nearctic ecozone , geography , shore , pleistocene , fishery , ecology , biology , archaeology , taxonomy (biology) , demography , sociology
During May 1996 and April 1997, eight harlequin duck males were captured and fitted with satellite transmitters while migrating along the shores of Forillon National Park, Québec, Canada. Another 17 males were equipped with satellite transmitters in river systems of eastern Hudson Bay, Ungava Bay and northern Labrador in June 1997 and 1998. Our objectives were to determine relationships between breeding, moulting and wintering areas, and to determine whether distinct population segments existed among harlequin ducks in eastern North America. All birds tracked from Forillon migrated to Labrador. Moulting areas were identified for six birds. Forillon males were followed to the eastern North American major wintering site in Maine. Males captured in northern Québec and Labrador migrated to moult and winter in south‐western Greenland. Our data suggest the presence of two demographically distinct population segments in eastern North America, perhaps originating from the Pleistocene glacial refuge in western Greenland and south of the Laurentide ice sheet in eastern Canada or United States.