Duckling survival increased with availability of flooded wetland habitat and decreased with salinity concentrations in a brackish marsh

Waterfowl population recruitment is sensitive to duckling survival. We quantified predator types and survival rates for Anas platyrhynchos (Mallard) and Mareca strepera (Gadwall) ducklings in one of the largest brackish water marshes in western North America (Suisun Marsh, California) using 556 radio-tagged ducklings from 284 broods tracked during the 2016 to 2019 breeding seasons. Overall, 78% of ducklings died and 84% of mortalities occurred