mapping migrations

Mapping migrations By Candace Savage Sometime this winter, waterfowl experts from across Canada will gather for their annual "wing bee." Their task will be to sort through a small mountain of duck wings obtained from a randomly selected group of hunters, and assign the wings to piles by species, age and sex. Together with statistics from similar shindigs held in the United States, this information will provide a picture of the year's kill and will …

…quired for a growing number of migratory species, including many of our favourite songbirds. Since population declines tend to affect particular subpopulations (like the boreal forest scaup), we can no longer get by with a broad-brush sketch of migratory movements. The hydrogen-isotope technology offers to fill in the details at a moment when this knowledge is urgently needed. Candace Savage is a Saskatoon-based writer and author of 18 books on wildlife, environmental issues and other subjects.