Migrational Homing and Survival of Adult Female Elders in Maine

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Abstract
Banding data for the American race of the common eider (Somateria mollissima dresseri) in Penobscot Bay, Maine [USA], were analyzed to estimate the rates of migrational homing and mortality of adult females from 1964-1973. Nearly all surviving females homed to the same breeding island year after year. Mortality rates, estimated from life tables based on live recaptures and on hunting season recoveries, were 27 and 19%, respectively, which are lower than published figures for most other waterfowl species. The combination of strong migrational homing and low mortality rate suggests that islands important to breeding eiders will continue to be productive in the foreseeable future, if they are preserved from exploitation and protected from human intrusion during the nesting season.

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