Publications
USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center staff publish results of their research in USGS series reports and in peer-reviewed journals. Publication links are below. Information on all USGS publications can be found at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 1907
Molt chronology of northern pintails in California
Intensity and chronology of molt in 10 feather groups (head, neck, breast, belly, back, rump, side, scapular, tertial, and tail) were measured using percentages of developing feathers (pinfeathers) converted to molt scores (0-100) in samples plucked monthly from northern pintails (Anas acuta) collected by shooting from August through March 1980-82 in the Sacramento Valley, California. Data to supp
Authors
M. R. Miller
Feeding ecology of sandhill cranes during spring migration in Nebraska
We studied the food habits of midcontinent sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) during spring 1978 and 1979 at their primary staging area along the Platte River and compared population food and foraging habitat requirements with availability. Crane diets varied among the 3 principal foraging habitats, but not between sexes, ages, or years. Cranes feeding in cornfields ate >99% corn (total dry wt); th
Authors
K. J. Reinecke, G.L. Krapu
Commercial sunflowers: food for red foxes in North Dakota
Stomach contents of 70 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) shot in east-central North Dakota during January 1982 and January 1983 were examined. Commercial sunflower seeds were the most frequently found food item, occurring each year in three-fourths of the stomachs and composing about half of the contents. The remainder of the diet was primarily mammals, but included birds, insects, amphibians, and refuse.
Authors
A. B. Sargeant, S.H. Allen, J. P. Fleskes
Winter ecology of bald eagles in southcentral Nebraska
Approximately 200 bald eagles wintered along a 370-km section of the Platte and North Platte rivers in Nebraska during the winters of 1978-79 and 1979-80. A preponderance of the wintering eagles were adults, with the adult:subadult ratio highest during the harsh winter of 1978-79. Nocturnal roosts were located primarily in tree plantings near the river, with mean tree age at the roosts ranging fro
Authors
G.R. Lingle, G.L. Krapu
Waterfowl nesting on an earth-filled cement culvert
Abstract has not been submitted
Authors
K.F. Higgins, H.W. Miller, L.M. Kirsch
Evaluation of a mallard productivity model
A stochastic model of mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) productivity has been developed over a 10-year period and successfully applied to several management questions. Here we review the model and describe some recent uses and improvements that increase its realism and applicability, including naturally occurring changes in wetland habitat, catastrophic weather events, and the migrational homing of mal
Authors
D. H. Johnson, L.M. Cowardin, D. W. Sparling
Classification of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States
This classification, to be used in a new inventory of wetlands and deepwater habitats of the United States, is intended to describe ecological taxa, arrange them in a system useful to resource managers, furnish units for mapping, and provide uniformity of concepts and terms. Wetlands are defined by plants (hydrophytes), soils (hydric soils), and frequency of flooding. Ecologically related areas of
Authors
L.M. Cowardin, V. Carter, F.C. Golet, E.T. LaRoe
Improving waterfowl production estimates: Results of a test in the prairie pothole region
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in an effort to improve and standardize methods for estimating waterfowl production tested a new technique in the four-county Arrowwood Wetland Management District (WMD) for three years (1982-1984). On 14 randomly selected 10.36 km2 plots, upland and wetland habitat was mapped, classified, and digitized. Waterfowl breeding pairs were counted twice each year and t
Authors
P.M. Arnold, L.M. Cowardin
Recoveries of ferruginous hawks banded in south-central North Dakota
Abstract has not been submitted
Authors
D.S. Gilmer, D.L. Evans, P.M. Konrad, R. E. Stewart
Evaluation of marked-recapture for estimating striped skunk abundance
The mark-recapture method for estimating striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) abundance was evaluated by systematically livetrapping a radio-equipped population on a 31.4-km2 study area in North Dakota during late April of 1977 and 1978. The study population was 10 females and 13 males in 1977 and 20 females and 8 males in 1978. Skunks were almost exclusively nocturnal. Males traveled greater nightly
Authors
R. J. Greenwood, A. B. Sargeant, D. H. Johnson
Quick estimates of success rates of duck nests
Abstract has not been submitted
Authors
D. H. Johnson, A.T. Klett