Human Disturbances to Waterfowl
Annotated Bibliography
Counts of wintering wildfowl were made at a 25-ha gravel pit lake before and after sailing and sail-boarding activities; counts with and without disturbance were compared. Recreational activities on the lake were restricted to a particular zone between 1 November and 28 February 1983, leaving a disturbance-free zone; the effect of this on the behavior and distribution of waterfowl was noted. Before zoning, any sailing activities displaced nearly all waterfowl from the lake. During the first month of zoning, sailing activities still caused a significant reduction in number of birds and species present, but after this period nearly all species tolerated the presence of sail-boards and dinghies and remained on the lake in numbers similar to those present on undisturbed days. Species included Canada goose (Branta canadensis), Eurasian wigeon (Anas penelope), gadwall (Anas strepera), green-winged teal (Anas crecca), common pochard (Aythya ferina), tufted duck (Aythya fuligula), long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis), common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), northern shoveler (Anas clypeata), and mute swan (Cygnus olor). Results in this paper are relatively similar to those in the publication by the same author reviewed below.
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