Handling stress of female common eiders during avian cholera outbreaks

Abstract

Researchers often consider the importance of minimizing holding time during research activities; however, the long‐term costs of such handling stress is rarely measured explicitly. As part of an ongoing study of common eiders (Somateria mollissima) at a breeding colony in East Bay, Southampton Island, Nunavut, we recorded duration of restraint for females captured during avian cholera epizootics (2007 and 2008) and monitored female fates (breeding probability, onset of laying, and survival) relative to holding time. Probability of death increased with holding time in 2007 from an estimated 0.05 for females held 20 min to 0.33 for females held for 150 min. In 2008, we responded by limiting holding time to <90 min and mortality was no longer positively correlated with holding time, although total mortality was greater due to increased severity of avian cholera. In both years, longer restraint durations delayed onset of egg‐laying after capture by 0.5 days for each 10 min of additional restraint but did not prevent breeding. This delay of nest initiation did not enhance survival probability. Our results show that prolonged holding time can exacerbate mortality during epizootics and emphasize the importance of minimizing restraint time in wild birds, especially in the presence of diseases. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.

Using Inuit traditional ecological knowledge for detecting and monitoring avian cholera among Common Eiders in the eastern Canadian Arctic

“…Given that avian cholera was first detected in North American wild waterfowl in southern United States in the early 1940s (Gordus 1993, Friend 1999, Friend et al 2001) and did not exist among wild avifauna in North America prior to that time, it is unlikely that avian cholera could have caused this event. In addition, because outbreaks generally recur episodically among infected https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol23/iss1/art22/ eider populations (Buttler et al 2011, Iverson 2015 and that Kimmirut and Cape Dorset residents did not observe any dead birds between the early 1900s and 1999, the four related mass mortality stories did not represent convincing evidence of past avian cholera outbreaks in the South Baffin Island area.…”

“…Herring Gull (Larus argentatus), Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus), Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus), Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle), Canada Goose (Branta canadensis), and Northern Pintail (Anas acuta). Avian cholera epizootics notably occurred annually on the breeding grounds of the largest Northern Common Eider colony in the Canadian Arctic, where a long-term scientific mark-recapture program has been conducted since 1996 (Buttler et al 2011, Henri 2012, Iverson 2015. This colony is located on a small rocky island (Mitivik Island; 0.24 km²; 64°02'N, 81°47'W) within the East Bay Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Southampton Island, Nunavut and comprises between 4000 and 8000 Common Eider breeding pairs depending on the year (Descamps et al 2012, Iverson 2015.…”

“…7); these incidents happened during a period when avian cholera outbreaks were confirmed (from 2004 to 2014) in the northeastern Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and Ungava Bay area ( Figs. 1 and 7; Buttler et al 2011, Legagneux et al 2014, Iverson 2015.…”

“…This colony is located on a small rocky island (Mitivik Island; 0.24 km²; 64°02'N, 81°47'W) within the East Bay Migratory Bird Sanctuary, Southampton Island, Nunavut and comprises between 4000 and 8000 Common Eider breeding pairs depending on the year (Descamps et al 2012, Iverson 2015. From 2005 to 2014, Common Eider carcasses and swab samples (oral and cloacal) collected from female eiders from the colony were submitted to the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative for analysis and avian cholera was diagnosed by either serology or molecular genetic analysis as the cause of death each year (Buttler et al 2011, Legagneux et al 2014, Iverson 2015. In the summer of 2006, for instance, avian cholera killed over 3500 Common Eiders (that is, more than 32% of nesting females) between late June and early August (Buttler 2009).…”

How Arctic Marine Birds Help Researchers Study a Changing North

“…Although avian cholera outbreaks in domestic birds have occurred in the temperate regions of the United States and Canada since the 1880s, the first report of avian cholera in wild waterfowl occurred in 1943 -44 in Texas (Samuel et al, 2007). Since that time, avian cholera has been detected in many other regions, including Hudson Bay and northern Quebec, where it was found in breeding Common Eider ducks in 2005 (Buttler et al, 2011;Harms, 2012). Since the detection of avian cholera in the eastern Canadian Arctic, surveys of Common Eider colonies have been conducted in collaboration with local communities to discover how widespread the disease is in the region and what the impacts may be on eider duck colonies ( Fig.…”