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While DUC studies eiders, you can find out more about these beautiful but declining ducks.
Eider Initiative pins research hopes on help of hunters 
St. John’s, Newfoundland, October 18, 2005—Waterfowl hunters in Newfoundland and Labrador and along the St. Lawrence Seaway are being urged to report band numbers from harvested birds to a toll free number, 1-800-327-BAND (2263), that has been set up to help waterfowl researchers.
“With the help of the hunters, our research becomes even more complete,” says Katherine Mehl, Ducks Unlimited Canada’s lead on the Eider Initiative. “We were very successful banding birds the past two years and we want to know the year and place that the bird was harvested so we can begin to understand how long these birds live for and where they go once they leave Newfoundland and Labrador. Most of the eiders that we banded were only day-old ducklings when we banded them, so information on the sex of the bird is also helpful.”
In 2004, Ducks Unlimited Canada embarked on the Eider Initiative, an intensive five-year eider research program. The goal of the Eider Initiative is to develop a population model that will guide management decisions and allow managers to predict how the number of eiders in a population may change under variable conditions. The need for this research is important, as eider numbers in Newfoundland and Labrador have declined to only 12,000 breeding pairs from what was at one time estimated to be 150,000 breeding pairs.
As part of the Eider Initiative, trained wildlife technicians from Newfoundland and Labrador are capturing nesting eider ducks and their ducklings and banding them with numbered metal leg-bands. When hunters report the bands to the Bird Banding Office, this unique number allows scientists to track information such as where the bird was originally banded and its age at time of harvest. The accumulated data is then used to provide effective conservation and population management of the species.
Hunters are an essential component of waterfowl research, management and conservation. Only with the help of hunters are researchers able to obtain valuable information on the survival of these birds. Hunters who recover leg-bands and phone band numbers in through the toll-free number will receive an informational letter about the bird they harvested, as well as a collector lapel Eider pin in appreciation of their contribution.
For more information:
Dr. Katherine Mehl
Research Scientist
Ducks Unlimited Canada
6 Bruce Street
Mount Pearl, NL A1N 4T3
Tel: (709) 364-3825
Email: kr_mehl@ducks.ca
