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These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.

Filter Total Items: 16783

Oological data on egg and breeding characteristics of brown pelicans

Mean clutch size in 236 sets of North American Brown Pelican eggs was 2.95 and did not vary geographically between North American populations. Shell weight varied from 8.05 g to 10.99 g along a geographic continuum. Shell thickness averaged 0.510 mm for P&cams occidentalis occidentalis, 0.5544557 mm for P. IJ. carolinensis, and 0.569- 0.579 mm for P. o. cdifornicus. The ranges of breeding dates fo
Authors
D. W. Anderson, J.J. Hickey

Correction of bias in belt transect studies of immotile objects

Unless a correction is made, population estimates derived from a sample of belt transects will be biased if a fraction of, the individuals on the sample transects are not counted. An approach, useful for correcting this bias when sampling immotile populations using transects of a fixed width, is presented. The method assumes that a searcher's ability to find objects near the center of the transe
Authors
D.R. Anderson, R.S. Pospahala

Surfactants as blackbird stressing agents

Applications of wetting-agent solutions produce mortality in birds. The exact cause of death is undetermined but it is believed that destruction of the insulating qualities of the plumage permits ambient cold temperatures and evaporation to lower the body temperature to a lethal level. The original concept of using these materials as bird-control tools was developed in 1958 at the Patuxent Wildlif
Authors
P.W. Lefebvre, J.L. Seubert

Progress of primary feather molt of adult mourning doves in Missouri

The examination of 7,892 adult doves in Missouri between 1953 and 1965 showed that less than 2.5% of adult doves completed their molt before October 1. Adult doves of both sexes began molting their primary feathers during early June in Missouri and lost the last (tenth) primary during the latter half of October. Approximately 140-150 days were required to complete the molt. Thus, early-hatched
Authors
K.C. Sadler, R. E. Tomlinson, H. M. Wight

Organochlorine and heavy metal residues in bald eagle eggs

Bald eagle eggs collected in 1968 from nests in Wisconsin, Maine, and Florida all contained residues of DDE, DDD, dieldrin, heptachlor epoxide, and polychlorinated biphenyls. Many also contained traces of DDT. Eggs from five nonproductive nests sampled in Maine contained much higher residues than did eggs collected from either productive or nonproductive nests in Wisconsin and Florida.
Authors
W.C. Krantz, B. M. Mulhern, George E. Bagley, A. Sprunt, F.J. Ligas, W.B. Robertson

A method for trapping breeding adult gulls

No abstract available.
Authors
D.K. Weaver, J.A. Kadlec

Two species of Simuliidae (Diptera), Cnephia ornithophilia and Prosimulium vernale, from Maryland

The finding of Cnephia ornithophilia Davies, Peterson, & Wood and Prosimulium vernale Shewell for the first time at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, Maryland, is described. Larvae of C. ornithophilia were collected Nov. 15, pupae Feb. 14, and adult flies Feb. 28. No immature or adult specimens were found between Apr. 2 and Nov. 14. The greatest number of immature stages was found in
Authors
I.B. Tarshis, J.N. Stuht

Woodcock status report, 1969

No abstract available.
Authors
E.R. Clark