Publications

Management techniques used to control vegetation along a new 8.5 km- (5.3 mile) long powerline right-of-way located at Patuxent Research Refuge are being evaluated to identify changes in habitat that affect wildlife. Techniques include: complete mow, strip mow, low volume foliar spray, selective basal spray, and tree topping. One hundred and one bird species were recorded during line...

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

Despite the death of her mate during the incubation period and a shortage (or lack of availability) of food in nearby waters, a female Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii) nesting at the Falkner Island Unit of the Stewart B. McKinney National Wildlife Refuge in Connecticut was able to raise a chick to fledging in 1995 without human assistance. The growth and development of this chick was...

No abstract available.

Reforestation of bottomland hardwoods on lands managed for wildlife or timber production has historically emphasized planting heavy-seeded oaks (Quercus spp.). Although techniques have been developed for successful oak establishment, these plantings often require 5 or more years before establishing a 3-dimensional forest structure. We suggest that lands planted to fast-growing early...

As part of an effort to understand extensive, white phosphorus (P4)-induced waterfowl mortality at Eagle River Flats, Fort Richardson, Alaska, we conducted a number of acute toxicity tests using penned mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) in 1993 and 1994. The 24-hr median lethal dose (LD50) for P4 dissolved in oil was 6.46 mg/kg in adult males and 6.96 mg/kg in adult females. Although the...

Researchers studied the loss rate of web tags on Anas and Aythya ducklings by double marking day-old ducklings of five species with web tags and plasticine-filled rings. Tag loss was examined over three-month, one-year, and three-year periods. Web tag loss was greatest for Anas and occurred mostly in the first three months following tagging.

Primary or tail feathers were collected from 92 wading birds in Florida from Lake Okeechobee and wetlands farther south, from 1987 to 1990. Mean concentrations detected in feathers of nestlings were 2.0 ppm Hg in roseate spoonbills (Ajaia ajaja), 3.5 ppm Hg in great blue herons (Ardea herodias), 4.7 ppm Hg in great white herons (Ardea herodias occidentalis), and 7.1 ppm Hg in great...

Waterfowl on lateral lakes of the Coeur d'Alene River and on Lake Coeur d'Alene have been poisoned for many years by lead (Pb) from mining and smelting. In 1992 we undertook a study in the area to determine the importance of sediment ingestion in exposing wood ducks (Aix sponsa) to Pb. Digesta were removed from the intestines of wood ducks collected from contaminated and reference areas...

Monitoring of changes in animal population size is rarely possible through complete censuses; frequently, the only feasible means of monitoring changes in population size is to use counts of animals obtained by skilled observers as indices to abundance. Analysis of changes in population size can be severely biased if factors related to the acquisition of data are not adequately...

Food consumption, digesta retention time, and food preference were measured for captive whooping cranes fed pelleted diets. The basal commercial diet was compared to four mixtures containing 70% basal and 30% of one of four important winter foods for the whooping crane: blue crab (Callinectes sapidus), wolfberry fruit (Lycium carolinianurn), live oak acorn (Quercus virginiana), or common...