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Breeding‐Season Survival of Male and Female Mallards in Canada's Prairie‐Parklands
Author(s) -
BRASHER MICHAEL G.,
ARNOLD TODD W.,
DEVRIES JAMES H.,
KAMINSKI RICHARD M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the journal of wildlife management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1937-2817
pISSN - 0022-541X
DOI - 10.2193/0022-541x(2006)70[805:bsomaf]2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - anas , biology , seasonal breeder , nest (protein structural motif) , population , hunting season , ecology , zoology , demography , biochemistry , sociology
Despite greater harvest rates of males, mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) populations exhibit male‐biased sex ratios, presumably because females experience greater mortality during breeding seasons than do males. Nest success and adult female survival during the breeding season greatly impact mallard population growth; however, no study has evaluated breeding‐season survival of males and females simultaneously using radiotelemetry. We captured, radiomarked, and monitored 90 male and 272 female mallards during 2 breeding seasons in the Prairie‐Parkland region of Canada (Manitoba 1998, Saskatchewan 1999). Model‐averaged estimates of female breeding season (i.e., 15 Apr–14 Jul) survival probabilities were 0.84 (SE = 0.031) in 1998 and 0.71 (SE = 0.040) in 1999. Estimated survival probabilities of paired males were 0.99 (SE = 0.016) in 1998 and 0.98 (SE = 0.025) in 1999; survival estimates for unpaired males were 0.92 (SE = 0.052) in 1998 and 0.85 (SE = 0.083) in 1999. Female mortality was greatest during periods of intensive nesting, whereas limited male mortalities precluded identification of attributes linked to mortality. Our results suggest that breeding‐season survival of males has little impact on mallard population growth, and that management efforts to increase female survival rates offer greater potential to enhance mallard production.