Distribution of common eiders Somateria mollissima during the brood‐rearing and moulting periods in the St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada

Common eiders Somateria mollissima nest in colonies on islands of the St. Lawrence Estuary in Quebec, Canada. After hatching, attending females must reach suitable brood‐rearing habitats while non‐attending females and adult males must find appropriate moulting sites. The aim of our study was to determine the biotic and abiotic factors that influence the distribution of common eiders during the brood‐rearing and moulting periods. We conducted biweekly surveys and recorded the number of ducks by age and sex in 2003 and 2004 at 68 sites along a 200‐km stretch of the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. We further classified adult females according to the presence or absence of young. We evaluated human disturbance during the surveys and developed a sinuosity index describing shoreline protection. We determined the nature of the substrate and an estimate of food abundance for a subsample of sites (N = 38). At the scale of the estuary, common eiders did not distribute randomly but used the same sites in both years. Broods preferred mainland sites near nesting islands. Non‐maternal females and males were located further east along the estuary, but their numbers were lower than expected based on the size of the breeding population, indicating that some birds undertake a moult migration outside of the area. In the eastern portion of our study area, densities of non‐maternal females increased significantly as summer progressed. The distribution of common eiders was influenced by food abundance and type but was not related to our indices of human disturbance and shoreline protection. Males were associated with mussels, non‐maternal females with both mussels and gammarids, while maternal females with ducklings were associated with periwinkles. Few of the sites used by common eiders along the south shore of the St. Lawrence Estuary are currently protected and measures should thus be taken to insure their conservation.