Survival and Other Observations of Adult Female Northern Pintails Molting in California (Sobrevivencia y Otras observaciones de Hembras Adultas de Anas acuta Mudando en California)

Survival rates of nine adult female Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) that became flightless after being radio-marked in the Sacramento Valley, California in August 1987-1989 were estimated. Seven of the radio-marked pintails molted in the Sacramento Valley, a nontraditional molting region, and two fle...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of field ornithology 1992-04, Vol.63 (2), p.138-144
Main Authors: Miller, Michael R., Fleskes, Joseph P., Orthmeyer, Dennis L., Gilmer, David S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aerial locomotion
Anas acuta
Birds
Ducks
Feathers
Female animals
Freshwater
Molting
Ponds
Quill pens
Survival rates
Waterfowl
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Survival rates of nine adult female Northern Pintails (Anas acuta) that became flightless after being radio-marked in the Sacramento Valley, California in August 1987-1989 were estimated. Seven of the radio-marked pintails molted in the Sacramento Valley, a nontraditional molting region, and two flew 280 km north to the Klamath Basin to molt. Molting marshes were dominated by emergent vegetation in both locations. Two ducks, while flightless in the Sacramento Valley, were killed by predators. Molting pintails remained sedentary (did not fly) for an average of 36 d, and the daily survival rate during this period was 0.9934. The resulting sedentary-period survival rate was 0.79. Primary feather 9 on two captive ducks grew an average of 4.2 mm per day. Mean body mass of molting ducks that died was lower than that for molting ducks that survived (P < 0.10). The number of pintails molting on Sacramento Valley refuges is probably
ISSN:0273-8570
1557-9263