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Folders: ROOT > ScienceBase Catalog > US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) > Programs > Migratory Birds > Region 7 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Management > USFWS MBM Alaska Waterfowl Program ( Show all descendants )

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The Alaska Trumpeter Swan Survey was an aerial survey conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Bird Management, Alaska Region (MBM-AK) and partners to monitor the status of trumpeter swans (Cygnus buccinator) in Alaska. It was first conducted in 1968 and then repeated at five-year intervals from 1975 through 2015. The objectives of the survey were to estimate the abundance, distribution (1968–2005 only), and productivity of trumpeter swans in late summer, when the swans were dispersed on breeding territories and cygnets were large enough to be easily counted from the air. Estimates were obtained for the abundance of white swans (swans >1 year old), cygnets, and total swans, as well...
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Between September and November each year, nearly the entire world population of Pacific black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) stages at Izembek Lagoon and surrounding estuaries (hereafter: Izembek Complex). The Izembek Complex is a unique area of protected brackish waters, supporting one of the world’s largest eelgrass beds and a diverse array of wildlife. The Alaska Fall Brant Survey has been conducted annually since 1976 in late-September through October, to provide an index of abundance for the entire post-breeding Pacific black brant population (Branta bernicla nigricans), while secondarily, providing annual fall population indices for cackling geese (Branta hutchinsii), emperor geese (Anser canagicus), and...
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Dusky Canada geese (Branta canadensis occidentalis) comprise one of the smallest populations of geese in North America and their breeding range is limited to Prince William Sound, primarily the Copper River Delta, and Middleton Island, Alaska. The Alaska Region of Migratory Bird Management initiated an aerial breeding pair survey on the Copper River Delta in 1986 after reported declines in the abundance of dusky Canada geese on their nesting and wintering grounds. Since 2008, the Pacific Flyway Council uses results of the aerial breeding pair survey, together with Middleton Island ground counts conducted by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, as a management index to determine optimal hunting regulations. Survey...
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The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) Aerial Breeding Pair Survey provides data on the spring abundance of targeted waterfowl species nesting on the YKD coastal zone in western Alaska. This region supports millions of waterbirds that comprise one of the largest and most important waterfowl breeding grounds in North America, including species of concern such as the red-throated loon (Gavia stellata), emperor goose (Chen canagica), Pacific black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans), common eider (Somateria mollissima), black scoter (Melanitta nigra), long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), and the threatened spectacled eider (Somateria fischeri). The YKD goose, swan, and crane survey was first implemented in 1985 to monitor...
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The Waterfowl Breeding Population & Habitat Survey (WBPHS) has been conducted annually since 1955 (1957 in Alaska) by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and Canadian Wildlife Service to estimate the spring abundance of targeted waterfowl species in their principal breeding areas of North America. The survey results are used to establish annual hunting regulations in the United States and Canada, monitor population trends, and inform various conservation and management decisions at the state, flyway, and continental levels. The Waterfowl Program in the FWS Division of Migratory Bird Management-Alaska Region (MBM-Alaska) is responsible for surveying strata 1–12 of the WBPHS during May to June of each year (i.e.,...
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More than 90% of the Pacific population of Steller’s eider (Polysticta stelleri) spends a portion of the fall in Alaska during fall wing molt and staging period, mostly along the Alaska Peninsula. The long-term Steller’s eiders counts from fall emperor goose surveys have shown declines at Izembek Lagoon and Port Heiden and approximate stability at Seal Islands and Nelson Lagoon (1992-2015, USFWS unpubl. data). Spring surveys for Steller’s eiders have been conducted along the north side of the Alaska Peninsula by USFWS since 1992; fall oblique photographic surveys covering the same area began in 2012.Systematic transect-based “overhead” photography is a method proposed for the fall survey and will be used to generate...
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Broad scale banding of midcontinent greater white-fronted geese (MCWFG) is motivated by the Flyway Management Plan objective to maintain optimum harvest opportunity throughout the population range (Central, Mississippi, and Pacific Flyway Councils, 2023). This objective is accomplished by implementing a harvest strategy whereby changes to bag limits and season dates are dependent upon thresholds of abundance and harvest rate. Such estimates are calculated through Lincoln estimation (Lincoln 1930, Alisauskas et al. 2009, Dooley 2023) that requires annual banding. In addition, banding provides a means to identify changes in harvest distribution. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Migratory Bird Management...
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In the 1960s, US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Alaska Region Migratory Bird Management (MBM-AK) developed a protocol for aerial Trumpeter Swan (Cygnus buccinator) and Tundra Swan (C. columbianus) abundance surveys in Alaska that was used by several government agencies and private entities through 2015. This standardized survey protocol allowed data collected by these diverse organizations to be stored together in a common digital archival system called the Alaska Swan Database, which is maintained by MBM-AK. Contributions to the database ranged from relatively small, localized surveys to the statewide quinquennial Alaska Trumpeter Swan Survey. Survey timing was either the spring nesting period or late summer...
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Duck banding data is integral to the Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM) process that uses both band recovery data and aerial breeding population survey data to establish hunting regulatory packages each year. Mallard banding in Alaska is one component of the process to set hunting regulations for ducks in the Pacific Flyway by providing harvest rate estimates for the Western Mallard AHM model (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2021). Harvest rate is used in coordination with breeding population size estimates from the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey to determine the optimal regulatory strategy (liberal, moderate, restrictive, or closed) for dabbling ducks in the Pacific Flyway. Each regulatory alternative...
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In 1957, Henry (Hank) Hansen and Jim King identified important habitat for molting geese in an area now referred to as the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area (TLSA) in northern Alaska. Located within the larger National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-AK), the importance of this habitat was reaffirmed by the Secretary of Interior in 1977 with the designation of the TLSA. In 1976, the Waterfowl Department of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Migratory Bird Management-Alaska (MBM-AK) began conducting aerial goose surveys within an area of the TLSA that they designated as the Traditional Survey Area. These surveys continued through 1978, after which there was a three-year hiatus. Surveys began again in 1982 and continued...
Categories: Data, Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: ALPINE/TUNDRA, ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES, ARCTIC TUNDRA, BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION, BIOLOGICAL RECORDS, All tags...
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This project is an annual communicating memo explicitly designed to inform the Pacific Flyway Representative of waterfowl survey results for incorporation of the data into harvest management reports and regulatory processes. This memorandum is additionally shared widely with partners outside the USFWS. The major products are an annual reporting memo–automatically generated from an R Quarto document, and 19 species-specific comma delimited table files that appear in the memo, and the generating qmd code.
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The 25,000 km of shoreline in southeast Alaska was surveyed for waterbirds, seals, sea lions, and sea otters by fixed-wing aircraft in summer and winter during the period 1997 to 2002. All shoreline was surveyed, including rocks and small islets. The transect width was 400 meters. Exceptions were made for scoters and sea otters, which were recorded if they were within visual sight of the plane regardless of their distance from shore. A ground/boat survey double-sampled 20% of the summer habitat and 5% of the winter habitat to adjust and enhance the air survey. Complete shoreline coverage provided precise estimates for the abundant waterbird species. Meaningful population values could be generated for very specific...
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This report provides information for the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Migratory Bird Management (USFWS DMBM), Alaska Migratory Bird Co-management Council (AMBCC; comprised of the USFWS, Alaska Department of Fish and Game [ADFG], and Alaska Native representatives), Pacific Flyway Council (PFC), and other entities interested in the management, monitoring, and biology of emperor geese. Sport and subsistence hunting of emperor geese was closed in 1986 and 1987, respectively, due to a population decline and conservation concerns. Since the mid-1980s, abundance has increased. During 2012–2015, proposals requesting a legalized harvest have been submitted by Alaska subsistence users through the AMBCC. Past...
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The Pacific Flyway Winter Brant Survey (WBS) has been conducted annually since 1981 as part of a cooperative effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian Wildlife Service, Mexico, and the Pacific U.S. states, to estimate the abundance of the Pacific black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) in their principal wintering areas along the Pacific Coast (in Baja, Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska). The survey is conducted each winter in January-February by a composite of ground and aerial crews, with the Alaska portion being conducted by the Alaska Region of USFWS Migratory Bird Management. The primary objective of the Alaska survey component is to provide an annual index of...
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Annual assessment of nesting populations of geese on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (YKD) provides information for biologists, participants in cooperative goose management plans, and Pacific Flyway technical committees. A ground-based sampling procedure has been used since 1986 to estimate the number of total nests, active nests, and eggs for cackling geese, emperor geese, greater white-fronted geese, and spectacled eiders. Annual information on the size of the nesting population and potential number of young produced contributes long term data needed to understand goose and eider population ecology and better manage these species. The survey has been the primary method of measuring recovery status for the western population...
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The Arctic Coastal Plain Aerial Breeding Pair Survey provides data on distribution, abundance, and trend of 33 bird species that nest in northern Alaska. The survey has been conducted in its current form annually since 2007. Methods follow the standard operating procedures for the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey. Primary uses of the survey data are to evaluate recovery status of Spectacled Eider (Somateria fischeri) and Steller’s Eider (Polysticta stelleri), as well as monitor species of conservation concern including Lesser Snow Goose (Chen caerulescens caerulescens), Yellow-billed Loon (Gavia adamsii), Red-throated Loon (G. stellata), and Black Brant (Branta bernicla nigricans). Survey data are...
    map background search result map search result map Analyses of Emperor Goose Survey Data and Harvest Potential Alaska Yukon Delta Nest Plot Survey Alaska Swan Database 1968-2015 Alaska Arctic Coastal Plain Breeding Waterbird Aerial Survey 2007-Present Alaska Goose, Swan, and Crane Population Indices Alaska Midcontinent Greater White-Fronted Goose Banding, Innoko National Wildlife Refuge Alaska Mallard Banding, Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge Alaska Izembek Brant Winter Aerial Survey 1981-present Alaska Izembek Fall Brant Aerial Survey 1976-Present Southeast Alaska Nearshore Waterbird Survey 1997-2002 Fall Steller's Eider Overhead Survey at Nelson Lagoon, Alaska, 2020 Alaska Trumpeter Swan Survey 1986-2015 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey Alaska-Yukon Teshekpuk Lake Molting Goose Survey Alaska Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Aerial Breeding Pair Survey Alaska Copper River Delta Aerial Dusky Canada Goose Breeding Pair Survey Fall Steller's Eider Overhead Survey at Nelson Lagoon, Alaska, 2020 Alaska Izembek Fall Brant Aerial Survey 1976-Present Alaska Copper River Delta Aerial Dusky Canada Goose Breeding Pair Survey Alaska Izembek Brant Winter Aerial Survey 1981-present Teshekpuk Lake Molting Goose Survey Alaska Yukon Delta Nest Plot Survey Alaska Midcontinent Greater White-Fronted Goose Banding, Innoko National Wildlife Refuge Alaska Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Aerial Breeding Pair Survey Alaska Arctic Coastal Plain Breeding Waterbird Aerial Survey 2007-Present Southeast Alaska Nearshore Waterbird Survey 1997-2002 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey Alaska-Yukon Alaska Trumpeter Swan Survey 1986-2015 Alaska Swan Database 1968-2015 Analyses of Emperor Goose Survey Data and Harvest Potential Alaska Goose, Swan, and Crane Population Indices