Breeding dispersal, migration, and winter movements of the eastern interior population of double-crested cormorants

Double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax aurtius ) have been perceived to be direct competition for commercial and sports fishers throughout the Great Lakes, and thus management has been sought. This study focuses on the population of breeding Double-crested Cormorants in Georgian Bay, Ontario, which has increased exponentially since 1979. The two objectives of this thesis were: to look at whether disturbance would cause breeding cormorants to abandon their colony and redistribute outside of Georgian Bay indicating that this population was apart of a Great Lakes metapopulation; and to identify fall migration routes, staging sites, winter habitat use, foraging area, and fidelity. These objectives were completed with the use of aerial photographs of colonies and implanted satellite platform terminal transmitters (PTTs) that allowed us to accurately track the movements of 28 individuals from 2007 to 2008.;Keywords: Double-crested Cormorant, Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, disturbance, metapopulation, migration, winter range, habitat use, aquaculture, fidelity, satellite.