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| MIGRATION OF SURF SCOTERS ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST | ||
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A large proportion of diving ducks in the Pacific Flyway are found in the San Francisco Bay estuary during the winter. Up to 80,000 surf scoters (Melanitta perspicillata), the largest southernmost concentration on the Pacific coast, have been counted in the estuary. Sea ducks are under investigation because of evidence indicating widespread declines in this group. Pollution may be a source of some of the problems. In this study, we are capturing and marking scoters with radio transmitters in San Francisco Bay to determine their late winter, spring migration, and breeding distribution. The San Francisco Bay Estuary Field Station of the U. S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center located in Vallejo, California has been leading studies on the ecology of wintering waterbird populations and their contaminant risks, including cross-seasonal studies linking them to migration and breeding areas. |
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