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Publications

USGS publications associated with the Bird Banding Laboratory. For a complete listing of USGS publications:

Filter Total Items: 162

Neckband retention for lesser snow geese in the western Arctic

Neckbands are commonly used in waterfowl studies (especially geese) to identify individuals for determination of movement and behavior and to estimate population parameters. Substantial neckband loss can adversely affect these research objectives and produce biased survival estimates. We used capture, recovery, and observation histories for lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) banded
Authors
M. D. Samuel, Diana R. Goldberg, A. E. Smith, W. Baranyuk, E.G. Cooch

Effects of color bands on Semipalmated Sandpipers banded at hatch

Effects of color bands on adult birds have been investigated in many studies, but much less is known about the effects of bands on birds banded at hatch. We captured Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) chicks at hatch on the Alaskan North Slope and attached 0–3 bands to them. The chicks were resighted and reweighed during the subsequent two weeks. The number of chicks banded varied from 18 t
Authors
Jonathan Bart, Daniel S. Battaglia, Nathan R. Senner

Combining band recovery data and Pollock's robust design to model temporary and permanent emigration

Capture-recapture models are widely used to estimate demographic parameters of marked populations. Recently, this statistical theory has been extended to modeling dispersal of open populations. Multistate models can be used to estimate movement probabilities among subdivided populations if multiple sites are sampled. Frequently, however, sampling is limited to a single site, Models described by Bu
Authors
M. S. Lindberg, W. L. Kendall, J. E. Hines, Michael G. Anderson

Development of a bird banding recapture database

Recaptures (and resightings) constitute the vast majority of post-release data from banded or otherwise marked nongame birds. A powerful suite of contemporary analytical models is available for using recapture data to estimate population size, survival rates and other parameters, and many banders collect recapture data for their project specific needs. However, despite widely recognized, broader
Authors
J. Tautin, P.F. Doherty, L. Metras

Southwestern willow flycatchers recaptured at wintering sites in Costa Rica

An adult Southwestern Willow Flycatcher banded in summer 1998 at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada, was recaptured the following winter in Santa Cruz, Costa Rica, then relocated at Ash Meadows during the 1999 breeding season. Another Southwestern Willow Flycatcher banded in 1999 as a nestling at Roosevelt Lake, Arizona, was recaptured in January 2000 on its wintering grounds in Bolsen,
Authors
Thomas J. Koronkiewicz, Mark K. Sogge

Harvest and reporting rates of game-farm ring-necked pheasants

Many state natural resource agencies release ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) for hunting, but the effectiveness of these programs has never been evaluated on a statewide basis. We conducted a reward-band study to estimate harvest, reporting, and survival rates of pheasants raised and released by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) for the fall 1998 hunting season. We banded 6,770 of
Authors
D.R. Diefenbach, C.F. Riegner, T.S. Hardisky

Turnover and dispersal of prairie falcons in southwestern Idaho

We studied Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus) breeding dispersal, natal dispersal, and turnover at nesting areas in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (NCA) from 1971- 95. Of 61 nesting areas where falcons identified one year were known to be present or absent the following year, 57% had a different falcon. This turnover rate was 2-3 times higher than that reported elsewhere
Authors
Robert N. Lehman, Karen Steenhof, L.B. Carpenter, Michael N. Kochert

Genetic variation in the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher

The Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus) is an endangered Neotropical migrant that breeds in isolated remnants of dense riparian habitat in the southwestern United States. We estimated genetic variation at 20 breeding sites of the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher (290 individuals) using 38 amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs). Our results suggest that considerable g
Authors
Joseph Busch, Mark P. Miller, E. H. Paxton, M. K. Sogge, Paul Keim

Variability of bed mobility in natural, gravel‐bed channels and adjustments to sediment load at local and reach scales

Local variations in boundary shear stress acting on bed‐surface particles control patterns of bed load transport and channel evolution during varying stream discharges. At the reach scale a channel adjusts to imposed water and sediment supply through mutual interactions among channel form, local grain size, and local flow dynamics that govern bed mobility. In order to explore these adjustments, we
Authors
Thomas E. Lisle, Jonathan M. Nelson, John Pitlick, Mary Ann Madej, Brent L. Barkett

Effects of neck collars and radiotransmitters on survival and reproduction of emperor geese

Neck collars have been used widely for studies of goose population biology. Despite concerns about their negative impacts, few studies have employed designs capable of clearly demonstrating these effects. During a 1993-98 study of emperor geese (Chen canagica), we contrasted survival and reproduction of geese marked with tarsal bands to those marked with either small neck collars, large neck colla
Authors
Joel A. Schmutz, Julie A. Morse

Description and identification of American Black Duck, Mallard, and hybrid wing plumage

We developed a key to identify wings of hybrids between American Black Ducks (Anas rubripes) and Mallards (A. platyrhynchos). Material for analysis included review of historical descriptions dating from the late 1700's, older museum collections in Europe and North America, wings collected from hunters in North America and Great Britain, birds banded in Canada and the United States, and a flock of
Authors
Ronald E. Kirby, Austin Reed, Pierre Dupuis, Holliday H. Obrecht, Walter J. Quist

Effects of neck bands on survival of greater snow geese

Neck bands are a widely used marker in goose research. However, few studies have investigated a possible negative effect of this marker on survival. We tested the effect of neck bands on the survival of adult female greater snow geese (Chen caerulescens atlantica) by marking birds with either a neck band and a metal leg band or a leg band only on Bylot Island (Nunavut, formerly included in the Nor
Authors
S. Menu, J.B. Hestbeck, G. Gauthier, A. Reed