Survival of female canvasbacks wintering in coastal Louisiana

Annual survival probabilities of female canvasbacks (Aythya valisineria) are lower than those of males, but sources and timing of mortality are poorly understood. To further elucidate causes of reduced annual survival in female canvasbacks, we estimated survival rates for radio-tagged females in coastal Louisiana during winters 1988-91. Survival estimates for winters 1988-91 were 0.946 ± 0.072 (estimate ± 95% CI) for adults (n = 82) and 0.952 ± 0.065 for immatures (n = 51). High survival by females wintering in coastal Louisiana suggests that sex- and age-related differences in canvasback survival occur during other periods of the annual cycle or at other wintering or staging sites.