Winter and Summer Home Ranges and Core Use Areas of Double-crested Cormorants Captured near Aquaculture Facilities in the Southeastern United States

Authors

D. Tommy King, USDA/APHIS/WS National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Bronson K. Strickland, Mississippi State UniversityFollow
Andrew A. Radomski, U.S. Department of Agriculture

Date of this Version

2012

Citation

Waterbirds 35(Special Publication 1): 124-131, 2012.

Comments

U.S. government work.

Abstract

Numbers of Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) wintering in the southeastern United States have increased dramatically during the last 30 years concomitant with the rise of the aquaculture industry in this region. These cormorants commonly foraged at commercial aquaculture facilities and thereby came into conflict with farmers. Various interest groups are seeking ecologically sound strategies for minimizing the effects of burgeoning cormorant populations. Therefore, this study was conducted to estimate winter and summer home ranges of cormorants captured in the southeastern U.S. and determine whether age class, body mass, density of aquaculture facilities and availability of roost sites influenced size of these home ranges. Mean ± SE home range size and core use area of satellite transmitter-marked cormorants wintering in the southeastern U.S. from 1999 to 2001 were 17,490 ± 1,986 km² (N = 37) and 1,550 ± 265 km² (N = 37), respectively. Winter home range size was not affected by region, age class or body mass. Summer home range and core use area of marked cormorants was 30,547 ± 6,197 km² (N = 6) and 3,124 ± 1,019 km² (N = 6), respectively.