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Chapter 15 

 Waterfowl 



Authors: Howard Spencer, Jr., John Parsons, Kenneth J. Reinecke 



The waterfowl of coastal Maine (ducks, geese, and swans of the family 

 Anatidae) are a higly visible and valuable natural resource. Because most 

 waterfowl are migratory, they are managed by regulatory controls and habitat 

 protection or improvement by Federal and State agencies and by international 

 agreement . 



Waterfowl inhabit a wide range of aquatic habitats and some terrestrial 

 habitats, consequently their seasonal distribution and daily movements in 

 coastal Maine are controlled largely by the abundance and diversity of 

 available habitat, and by habitat change and alterations. The general 

 abundance of most species of waterfowl of coastal Maine are largely determined 

 by conditions that prevail in their breeding and wintering grounds outside of 

 Maine. The diversity of the waterfowl habitat of coastal Maine (feeding, 

 breeding, nesting, and wintering grounds in freshwater, estuarine, and marine 

 habitats) is demonstrated by the diversity of waterfowl found there. 



This chapter attempts to identify major waterfowl resources and their seasonal 

 distribution and abundance along the coast of Maine, their interactions among 

 ecosystem components, and their response to human-induced factors and 

 management . 



The common and scientific names (American Ornithologists' Union 1957, 1973a, 

 1973b, and 1976) and the relative abundance of the waterfowl species among 

 resident, breeding, wintering, and migratory populations of coastal Maine, 

 based on most recent estimates, are given in tables 15-1 to 15-4. Of the 140 

 species of waterfowl now recognized in the world, about 45 breed in North 

 America (Johnsgard 1975). Thirty-six of the North American species breed in, 

 migrate through, or winter in coastal Maine in sufficient numbers to be 

 considered in this report. One of these, the eider duck, is also discussed in 

 chapter 14, "Waterbirds" , because of its breeding distribution. 



15-1 



10-80 



