The Incidence of Embedded Shot in Waterfowl in Atlantic Canada and Hudson Strait

Abstract

From 1989-1998, in Canada’s Atlantic Provinces and eastern sub-arctic region, migrant Canada Geese (Branta canadensis), wintering American Black Duck (Anas rubripes), Mallard (A. platyrhynchos) and incubating Common Eider (Somateria mollissima) were captured and examined with a fluoroscope to determine if shotgun pellets were embedded in their tissues. Of 1,624 birds examined, 25% carried embedded shotgun pellets. The highest proportion of birds carrying pellets was recorded in the sample of female Common Eider captured on nests in Labrador, followed by female eiders nesting in Newfoundland, Quebec and Nova Scotia and migrant Canada Geese in spring in Prince Edward Island.