Research about Atlantic flyway

USGS1997

A survey for mallard pairs in the Atlantic flyway

During 1989-1992, spring surveys of randomly selected, 1-km 2 plots, stratified by physiographic strata, were conducted in the Atlantic flyway from New Hampshire to Virginia, to estimate mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos ) pairs. All potential waterfowl habitat in each plot was checked by ground crews. The adjusted mean mallard pair estimate over the 4-year period was 300,849 (range 271,193-320,642, mean SE 22,455) for the region surveyed. Ground plot checks are a practical way to survey mallard pairs in the upper Atlantic flyway.

Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ne↗

USGS1997

Population dynamics of white-winged scoters

A significant ( P < 0.01) decline between 1961 and 1993 in ratio of harvested young per adult in the Atlantic Flyway (age ration) of white-winged scoters ( Melanitta fusca ) led us to examine annual survival rates and harvest of this species. Compared to waterfowl with similar life histories, black scoters ( M. nigra ) and surf scoters ( M. perspicillata ), the decline in age ratios of white-winged scoter age ratios was not significantly different ( P = 0.11). Adult females banded at Redberry Lake, Saskatchewan that winter along both coasts, had high annual survival rates (0.773 ± 0.0176 [SE]). High harvest in the Atlantic Flyway was not followed by an increase in production (age ratios) the following year or 2, i.e., there was no short-term rebound in recruitment by the population. Harvest of white-winged scoters in the Atlantic Flyway was explained by the age ratio in the fall flight and by hunter effort.

Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ne↗