Matthew C. Perry, Ph.D. (Former Employee)

The Chesapeake Bay is a primary wintering area for scoters and the long-tailed ducks (Clangia hyemalis) that migrate along the Atlantic Flyway. Recently, the Chesapeake Bay had undergone an ecosystem shift and little is known about how this is affecting the seaduck populations. We are determining what are the preferred food sources of the seaducks wintering on the Bay and analyzing the...

Food selection among Atlantic Coast seaducks during 1999-2005 was determined from hunter-killed ducks and compared to data from historic food habits file (1885-1985) for major migrational and wintering areas in the Atlantic Flyway. Food selection was determined by analyses of the gullet (esophagus and proventriculus) and gizzard of 860 ducks and summarized by aggregate percent for each...

Some populations of seaducks, especially scoters along the Atlantic Coast, have been declining over recent decades. A joint US-Canadian tearn has been working to capture and surgically implant satellite radio transmitters in these ducks. Black scoters (Melanitta nigra) captured on the Restigouche River in New Brunswick, Canada and surf scoters (M. perspicilata) captured on Chesapeake Bay

Satellite radio telemetry was used to determine the movements and habitats of black scoters (Melanitta nigra) and surf scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) in eastern North America. A total of 21 surf scoters were instrumented during five years (2001-05) and 32 black scoters were instrumented during three years (2002-04) with implanted PTT 100 satellite transmitters (39 g) with external...

No abstract available.

Surveys of surf scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) along the Atlantic coast of the United States have shown population declines in recent decades. The Chesapeake Bay has traditionally been a key wintering area for surf scoters. Past and present research has shown that bivalves constitute a major food item for seaducks in the Chesapeake Bay, with surf scoters feeding primarily on hooked...