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Aspects of the Ecology and Management of Mottled Ducks in Coastal South Carolina

Mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula) are endemic to Gulf Coastal United States and Mexico. Birds from Florida, Louisiana, and Texas were released in coastal South Carolina from 1975-1983, and banding data suggest an expanding South Carolina population. We radio-marked 116 females in August 2010-2011 in the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto (ACE) Rivers Basin and used radio telemetry to study habitat selection, searched for nests of non-radiomarked females, and conducted indicated breeding pair surveys of mottled ducks at various wetlands. Overall, radiomarked mottled duck females selected managed wetland impoundments, wetlands containing planted corn, and brackish wetlands. Overall nest success of 42 nests of unmarked females was 19%. Modeling results indicated that the area of an island on which a nest was located was the only variable influencing nest success. Indicated breeding pair surveys revealed that the size of the wetland was the primary influence of breeding mottled duck immigration into a wetland.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:MSSTATE/oai:scholarsjunction.msstate.edu:td-1734
Date13 December 2014
CreatorsShipes, James Claybourne
PublisherScholars Junction
Source SetsMississippi State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceTheses and Dissertations

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