Paul L. Flint William L. Hohman Jean-Pierre L. Savard Anthony D. Fox 2014 <p><span>This paper reviews factors affecting site selection amongst waterfowl (Anatidae)&nbsp;during the flightless remigial moult, emphasising the roles of predation and food&nbsp;supply (especially protein and energy). The current literature suggests survival during&nbsp;flightless moult is at least as high as at other times of the annual cycle, but documented&nbsp;cases of predation of flightless waterfowl under particular conditions lead us to infer&nbsp;that habitat selection is generally highly effective in mitigating or avoiding predation.&nbsp;High energetic costs of feather replacement and specific amino-acid requirements for&nbsp;their construction imply adoption of special energetic and nutritional strategies at a&nbsp;time when flightlessness limits movements. Some waterfowl meet their energy needs&nbsp;from endogenous stores accumulated prior to remigial moult, others rely on&nbsp;exogenous supply, but this varies with species, age, reproductive status and site.&nbsp;Limited evidence suggests feather proteins are derived from endogenous and&nbsp;exogenous sources which may affect site selection. Remigial moult does not occur&nbsp;independently of other annual cycle events and is affected by reproductive investment&nbsp;and success. Hence, moult strategies are affected by age, sex and reproductive history,&nbsp;and may be influenced by the need to attain a certain internal state for the next stage&nbsp;in the annual cycle (e.g. autumn migration). We know little about habitat selection&nbsp;during moult and urge more research of this poorly known part of the annual cycle,&nbsp;with particular emphasis on identifying key concentrations and habitats for specific&nbsp;flyway populations and the effects of disturbance upon these. This knowledge will&nbsp;better inform conservation actions and management actions concerning waterfowl&nbsp;during moult and the habitats that they exploit.</span></p> application/pdf en Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Waterfowl habitat use and selection during the remigial moult period in the northern hemisphere article