Connectivity of Eastern Canada Piping Plovers

(Life-cycle Conservation)

Cheri Gratto-TrevorScience & Technology Branch, Environment Canada

and

Jen Rock, Julie McKnight, Karen Potter, François Shaffer, and Krista Baker

Canadian Wildlife Serviceand

Alain RichardAttention Fragîle

Eastern Canada: Gulf of St. Lawrence and Southern NS Populations

In E Canada, population recovery goals have not been met, and the overall population has been

in decline, even though productivity has been relatively

high (ave. ~1.6 fledged young per

pair)

Eastern Canada Population Trends

A banding study from 1998-2003 (Calvert et al. 2006) found that:

1.Birds produced in E Canada are rarely breeding in the U.S. Atlantic (E Canada is not losing birds to the U.S.)

2.Eastern Canada Gulf juvenile survival rates appeared lower than those from other areas

A recent review (Gratto-Trevor et al. 2013), analyzing factors correlated with population trends from 1998-2013 concluded that:Eastern Canada Piping Plover populations are ultimately driven primarily by factors (weather; possibly disturbance, etc.) outside the breeding season.

Previous Eastern Canada Analyses

So, in 2014 (with preliminary work in 2013), we initiated a study to determine:

-where Eastern Canada breeding populations concentrate in winter

-current survival rates of Eastern Canada juveniles and adults

-what is most affecting survival, and at what part of the annual cycle

In this presentation, we discuss our findings to date on nonbreeding distributions, how it compares to previous information, and resighting rates (during winter, return rates in the following summer, return rates from different wintering areas

Overall Study Objectives

Methods

Captured adults on nest, chicks with handnets

Measured, sex determined

Marking

Both adults and chicks marked with a metal

band on one upper leg and coded flag (2

letter/numbers) on the other upper leg:

Black flags GULF (and a few white flags

from 2013)

Grey or White flagsS NS

2013-4 Marking Locations

NL added in 2015

Cape Breton NS added in 2015

Numbers marked in 2013-4

Total Adults # Males # Females # Chicks TotalQC 25 12 13 20 45

NB 37 19 18 23 60

PE 20 9 11 17 37

N NS 6 4 2 12 18

Gulf Total 88 44 44 72 160

S NS 29 15 14 39 68

Overall Total 117 59 58 111 228

Return Rates

Males 79% (38/48)

Females 47% (25/53)

All Adults 62% (63/101)

Chicks 31% (34/111)

Birds present in summer 2014 seen summer 2015

Return Rates from Different Winter Areas

Too small a sample size to say anything, but awfully similar!

Winter Adults ChicksSC/NC 100% (2/2) 33% (1/3)

FL Atl/GA 100% (3/3) 100% (3/3)

FL Gulf 57% (4/7) 62% (5/8)

Total USA 75% (9/12) 64% (9/14)

Caribbean 78% (14/18) 64% (7/11)

Nonbreeding Sightings

-solicited nonbreeding resightings from biologists, managers, and birders

-contracted resighting surveys of potential wintering site gaps

-in winter 2014-5 attempted coverage of ~80% of Atlantic breeders’ wintering areas

(Percentage of birds observed at least once during migration or winter)

Percentage Seen During Nonbreeding Season

Males 62% (36/58)

Females 51% (30/59)

All Adults 56% (66/117)

Chicks 32% (35/111)

(Percentage of birds observed at least once between Nov and the end of Feb)

Percentage Seen During Winter

Males 38% (18/48)

Females 23% (15/53)

All Adults 30% (30/101)

Chicks 22% (25/111)

Why So Few Seen in Winter?

We attempted to examine 80% of wintering birds for bands, but only 30% of the marked birds were seen...

1.some birds died before winter (of the adults seen in winter, 80% were observed the following summer; of the adults not seen in winter, only 55% were observed the following summer)

2.some birds were missed, with a single survey at some sites

3.incomplete coverage of the Bahamas and Cuba

4.are there sites we don’t know about?

Intl Censuses % Breeders seen Winter(Including only Caribbean, FL Gulf and Atlantic wintering birds VS Atlantic Breeders; Elliott-Smith et al. 2015, Elliott-Smith, Haig and

Powers 2009, Ferland and Haig 2002)

2011 2006 2001 1996 1991WinterUS Atlantic to FL 193 397 276 252 109Florida 306 454 416 375 551Caribbean 1087 534 96 89 40total winter 1586 1385 788 716 700

BreedingUS Atlantic 2952 2855 2430 2169 1462E Canada 410 465 490 428 513Great Lakes 112 110 72 48 40total summer 3474 3430 2992 2645 2015

% winter/summer 46 40 26 27 35

Fall Resightings (up to Nov 2014)

Spring Resightings (March-April)

Results from Winter Paper

Grey: E CanadaOrange: US Great LakesGreen: Missouri River, SDBlack: SK

Gratto-Trevor et al. 2012

Winter Distribution

(E Canada results vs 2011 Winter Census)

Eastern Canada Intl CensusWinter 2014-5 2011NC 4 3SC 6 5GA 7 4FL Atlantic 4 5Atlantic 21 18FL Gulf 27 14Caribbean 52 69

Percentage

Winter Distribution

(compared to previous studies)The

Bahamas were not

checked for marked

birds until recently

But why such a

difference in NC, and FL

Atlantic?

Winter US Great Lakes2014-5 1998-2003

Number 55 47 150MD 0 0 1NC 4 43 18SC 6 6 20GA 7 9 29FL Atlantic 4 19 7FL Gulf 27 23 23AL 0 0 1TX 0 0 1Caribbean 52 - -

Eastern CanadaPercentage

Where to go from here...

1. Compare winter distribution results to current banding efforts of U.S. Atlantic breeders

2. Increase our sample of winter resightings to see if pattern changes

3. Due to a number of leg injuries from the coded flags we may not be continuing the banding effort in Eastern Canada

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Andrew Boyne CWS, Bird Studies Canada, Nature NB, Island Nature Trust, Kouchibouguac National Park, PEI National Park, and many others who helped with fieldwork, permits and logistics

And much appreciation is due everyone who sent in resightings of our birds, especially Sid Maddock, Pat and Doris Leary, Chris Davis (NJ Fish and Wildlife), Todd Pover (Conserve Wildlife NJ), Jon Altman (Cape Lookout Natl Seashore), Matt Jeffery and Walker Golder (Audubon), and Danny Sauvageau

Questions???