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Migration patterns, breeding and moulting locations of king eiders wintering in north-eastern Norway

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Abstract

The Norwegian coast is a very important winter area for king eiders (Somateria spectabilis), but their origin has been unknown. We determined spring and autumn migration routes, timing of migration and potential breeding areas of king eiders wintering in north-eastern Norway using implanted satellite transmitters. Five males and five females were equipped with transmitters in February 2008, and location data were received from six birds. All birds departed within 10 days in mid April and flew to the Pechora Sea and Kara Sea in western Russia where they staged until mid June. Subsequently, four of five birds with active transmitters (two females and two males) moved east to potential breeding locations on the Gydan and Taymyr Peninsulas. In early July, the males moved west to moult at Kolguyev Island and in the Pechora Sea. The two females departed in mid July, one probably moulting between the gulfs of the Ob and Yenisei Rivers, after which it moved to the Pechora Sea. The other female probably moulted in the eastern Taymyr, thereafter moving to Novaya Zemlya. This female returned to the north-eastern coast of Norway 1 December, while the other female returned 2 January. For the males, the transmitters stopped in December/January when they were still in the Pechora/Kolguyev area. King eiders wintering in north-eastern Norway thus originate from the western half of Arctic Russia, and the Taymyr Peninsula is probably the dividing point between the eastern and western flyways.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to a Halvar Ludvigsen for valuable help during fieldwork and to the crew at the local harbour administration in Båtsfjord. We further wish to thank three reviewers for valuable comments that improved an earlier draft of the manuscript, and Rob Barrett for correcting the English. The study was financed by the Norwegian seabird research program SEAPOP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, The Polar Environmental Centre, 9296, Tromsø, Norway

    Jan Ove Bustnes & Geir Helge Systad

  2. Department of Arctic Environment, National Environmental Research Institute, P.O. Box 358, Frederiksborgvej 399, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark

    Anders Mosbech & Christian Sonne

Authors
  1. Jan Ove Bustnes
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  2. Anders Mosbech
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  3. Christian Sonne
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  4. Geir Helge Systad
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Correspondence to Jan Ove Bustnes.

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Bustnes, J.O., Mosbech, A., Sonne, C. et al. Migration patterns, breeding and moulting locations of king eiders wintering in north-eastern Norway. Polar Biol 33, 1379–1385 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0827-7

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