Effects of implanted satellite transmitters on behavior and survival of female common eiders

Abstract

Surgically implanted satellite transmitters have been widely used in studies of avian ecology, yet little is known about their potential impacts on birds. We implanted satellite transmitters with percutaneous antennae (approx. 50 g) in 17 female common eiders (Somateria mollissima) at a breeding colony in Arctic Canada. Among females implanted during incubation, 11 of 12 nests were abandoned within 1 week of being radioed. We observed no differences in the proportion of time that implanted female eiders allocated to basic behaviors. Radioed birds were more likely to pick or preen their abdominal (site of surgical incision) and posterior–dorsal (site of antenna exit) regions than unmarked females, although these behaviors were rare (approx. 0.3% of total time budget). Three of 10 females re‐observed had a pronounced limp following surgery, but we observed no walking difficulties among these females in subsequent seasons, and we observed some implanted eiders nesting in subsequent years. Mark–resighting models suggest eiders with transmitters had lower apparent survival the year after implantation (67.0%; 85% CI: 47.8–81.9%) than did color‐banded eiders (87.5%, 85% CI: 82.5–91.2%), but there was no model support for a survival difference in subsequent years. We conclude that transmitter implantation in common eiders leads to short‐term changes in behavior and a decline in first year survival. We encourage researchers to collect similar data on their study subjects where possible and use it to determine the degree to which data are representative of the greater population. © 2011 The Wildlife Society.

Annual survival in female white‐winged scoters and lesser scaup

“…Given these differences in relative weight of transmitters and their effects, we cannot determine whether any effect of transmitters on females would have been more like harlequin ducks or eiders. We found, however, no support for a time effect ( t + 1 vs. > t + 1) on apparent survival, as was observed by Fast et al (). Eiders also were carrying relatively larger transmitters than were scoters in our study, and eiders may experience harsher environmental conditions associated with arctic winter habitats (Mosbech et al ), which presumably could make them more sensitive to energetic constraints associated with transmitters than scoters wintering along the milder Pacific coast (Gurney et al ).…”

“…Esler et al () observed no effects of intra‐abdominal transmitters on apparent survival in harlequin ducks ( Histrionicus histrionicus ) wintering in Alaska, after 2 weeks post‐deployment. Fast et al (), however, reported a 20% reduction in apparent survival for common eider ( Somateria mollissima ) females marked with transmitters of similar design, but only in the first year post‐marking. They attributed this effect to reduced true survival or permanent emigration.…”

Hidden survival heterogeneity of three Common eider populations in response to climate fluctuations

“…Although implanting eider females with transmitters could potentially impact their survival (Fast et al . ), preliminary analysis showed that incorporating females tracked by satellite did not affect our results for the Canadian population.…”

Reduction in adverse effects of tracking devices on waterfowl requires better measuring and reporting

“…The implantation of satellite transmitters with external antennas in Common Eiders Somateria mollissima during incubation led to the abandonment of 11 out of 12 nests in a Canadian study, but 30% of the tagged birds were observed nesting in the following years. Furthermore, the tagged birds spent more time preening than colourringed birds and suffered a 20% decrease in survival during the first year after surgery compared to the control group [25]. Limping was observed in some individuals, something which was also found by 1 out of the 6 Common Eiders in the study of Latty et al [49].…”