Goosander (Mergus merganser) Science Article 1
abstract
Moulting Goosanders were counted on the Eden estuary, Fife, UK from 1979 to 1994, and some of these birds were caught and wing-tagged from 1992 to 1994. This paper documents changes in numbers of moulting birds, and their provenance, as determined from subsequent sightings. Goosanders only started to moult on the Eden estuary in the 1980s and their numbers have increased since the late 1980s. This increase also occurred elsewhere on other, geographically similar, Scottish east-coast estuaries. The birds are adult females, and many, though not all, seem faithful to their moult site. Moulting flocks persist from June to October, with a turnover of birds occurring during this period. The moulting birds are drawn primarily from wintering and breeding areas to the south and west of the Eden estuary, in southwest Scotland, England and Wales.
P. Leslie Hatton and M. Marquiss, Ringing & Migration (2004) 22, 70-74