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A report on the taxonomic status and distribution of the red wolf
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Waterfowl status report, 1972.
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Waterfowl status report, 1976
This report contains information from the 1975-76 midwinter waterfowl survey, the 1976 waterfowl breeding population and production surveys, and the waterfowl harvest surveys for the 1975-76 hunting season. This information was provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and various cooperating State wildlife conservation agencies. Winter surveys are composed of the midwinter survey reports submitted from each of the four flyways and the midwinter survey covering a portion of the west coast of Mexico. The breeding ground surveys section is composed of many individual reports that provide breeding population and production estimates for most waterfowl species within a major portion of their breeding range. The waterfowl harvest survey provides estimates of waterfowl hunting activity and success. Information from surveys of the wintering and breeding populations of waterfowl, coupled with data from the annual harvest survey, are instrumental in developing annual hunting regulations for waterfowl. Credit has been given to each individual or organization that submitted a report. Although some of the narrative statements have been condensed and a few tables deleted or condensed if they contain data presented elsewhere in this report, the essential information from each report has been retained. The breeding grounds survey strata (Fig. 1) for areas surveyed by Fish and Wildlife Service crews were renumbered in 1974.
Birds imported into the United States in 1972
Birds imported into the United States in 1972 are tabulated by species. Total numbers for the period 1968-72 are given for the more commonly imported taxa. The number of birds imported in 1972 (640,995) decreased by about one third from that of 1971, largely as a result of a ban declared on the importation of birds in August 1972 due to the outbreak of exotic Newcastle,disease. Much of the decrease in numbers imported was a result of a large decrease in the numbers of parrots imported. In 1972 parrots accounted for under 9% of all birds imported, compared with nearly 25% of all imports the previous year. In 1972, 624 species were imported of which 105 had not been reported in the previous 4 years; since 1968, approximately 1,540 species have been imported. Birds were imported from 53 countries; 10 countries provided nearly 95% of the individual birds. The proportion of presumably wild-caught birds increased to about 86% compared with about 77% in 1971.
Significance of lead residues in mallard tissues
Tissues of adult, lead-dosed mallards that either died or were sacrificed were analyzed for lead. Lead levels in brains, tibiae, and breast muscle of ducks that died and in tibiae of ducks that were sacrificed increased significantly from dosage until death. Lead in the heart, lung, and blood from sacrificed ducks decreased significantly from dosage until death. Lead concentrations in tissues from ducks in the two groups were not significantly different except for the liver, kidney, and lung. Average lead levels in the livers and kidneys of ducks that died were significantly higher than those in ducks that were sacrificed. The mean concentration of lead in the lungs of the ducks sacrificed was significantly higher than the mean level in the lungs of ducks that died. Measurements of the lead concentrations in this study, when compared with lead levels reported in the literature for avian and non-avian species, showed that arbitrary diagnostic levels indicating lead poisoning could be set. In mallard ducks, lead levels exceeding 3 ppm in the brain, 6 to 20 ppm in the kidney or liver, or 10 ppm in clotted blood from the heart indicated acute exposure to lead.
A bibliography of references to avian botulism
This bibliography, first compiled in 1970 in response to many requests for information on avian botulism, has been updated to include the literature published through 1975. In general, only articles dealing primarily with the avian disease are included, as opposed to those concerned with various aspects of the biology of Clostridium botulinum , either type C or type E. A few exceptions, such as Bengton’s report of the first isolation and description of the type C organism, are included for their historical interest. Progress reports and other administrative documents not available for distribution or request are excluded, as are textbook accounts, which are generally summaries of work published elsewhere. Although Mr. Allen and Mrs. Wilson have attempted to list every important reference, they make no claim to complete coverage of the published literature. The authors will be grateful to users of the bibliography who call attention to errors or omissions.
Birds of Isle Royale in Lake Superior
This report constitutes an annotated list of 197 species of birds reported from Isle Royale National Park, a 210-square-mile archipelago in northwestern Lake Superior including some 200 islets and rock outcrops. The island is 45 miles long and 8 miles wide at its widest point. Bird distribution and habitats are described, along with geography and vegetation; 62 species are known to have bred at least once, 26 are thought to be breeders, and the rest are migrants.
Bibliography of references to avian botulism: Update
This bibliography, first compiled in 1970 (Allen and Wilson 1977) and published in 1977 in response to many requests for information on avian botulism, has been updated to include the literature published through 1980. In general, only articles dealing primarily with the avian disease are included, as opposed to those concerned with the various aspects of the biology of Clostridium botulinum , either type C or E. A few exceptions, such as Bengtson's report of the first isolation and description of the type C organism, are included for their historical interest. Progress reports and other administrative documents not available for distribution on request are excluded, as are most textbook accounts, which are generally summaries of work published elsewhere. This bibliography was a cooperative effort by the National Wildlife Health Laboratory, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. National Park Service. The National Park Service provided partial funding for the work through Contract No. 89100-0491. Although the authors attempted to list every important reference, they make no claim to complete coverage of the published literature. The authors will be grateful to users of the bibliography who call attention to errors or omissions. Wayne I. Jensen (Retired) Milton Friend, Director, National Wildlife Health Laboratory
Comparative Dietary Toxicities of Pesticides to Birds
This report presents measurements of the lethal dietary toxicity of 89 pesticidal chemicals to young bowhites, Japanese quail, ring-necked pheasants, and mallards. Toxicity is expressed as the median lethal concentration (LC 50) of active chemical in a 5-day ad libitum diet. LC 50's and associated statistics are derived by methods of probit analysis. Endrin consistently was the most toxic chemical while aldrin and dieldrin were among the six most toxic chemicals of those tested on all species. In general, organophosphates were less toxic than aldrin or dieldrin and herbicides were of a low order of toxicity. There were obvious inconsistencies in the relative sensitivity of the four species to various chemicals.
A bibliography of references to avian cholera
Mrs. Wilson has made a genuine effort to include in this bibliography every significant reference to avian cholera since Louis Pasteur's articles appeared in 1880, although she recognizes the likelihood that a few have been overlooked. New listings have been added throughout 1978, but comprehensive coverage of the literature cannot be claimed beyond June of that year. Textbook accounts, because they are generally summaries of work published elsewhere, are excluded. Papers dealing primarily with the biology of Pasteurella multocida , as opposed to the disease it induces in birds, are also excluded, unless they report information of diagnostic usefulness. Short abstracts are not included unless the journals in which they are published are more widely available than those in which the complete articles appear or they are English summaries of foreign language articles. In compiling this bibliography, Mrs. Wilson has made extensive use of Biological Abstracts, the Pesticide Documentation Bulletin, and printouts generated by Bibliographic Retrieval Services, Inc. The "Literature Cited" sections of textbooks and journal articles pertinent to the subject were sources of many additional references. Regardless of the origin of the citation, its accuracy was confirmed by comparison with the original publication, except in those few instances (marked with an asterisk) when the journal was not on the shelves of the libraries accessible to us. The author will be grateful to users of the bibliography who point out errors or omissions. Wayne I. Jensen Microbiologist In Charge
Woodcock status report, 1960
Singing ground counts for 1960 from 40 routes west of the Appalachians and 166 routes east of this range were available for comparison with counts made on the same routes in 1959. While the measurements of change in the woodcock breeding index between years relate, properly speaking, only to these routes as selected by the cooperators, this is the best information we have on the breeding population of the area east of Wisconsin and north of Tennessee and South Carolina.* East of the Appalachians the sample data indicated a statistically significant decrease of 10 per cent, and it probably is safe to conclude that the true drop did not exceed 19 per cent. West of the Appalachians an average increase of 7 per cent was indicated, and 95 per cent confidence limits suggest- that if a decrease did occur on the sample routes, it probably was not more than 13 per cent. For both areas combined, a decrease of 2 per cent was recorded on the 206 routes sampled, with confidence limits of an increase of 9 per cent or a decrease of 12 per cent. There is no evidence of a disastrous population decrease in spite of the severe weather conditions of March 1960. *No comparative data were available from Indiana, Quebec, Rhode Island, Delaware or Virginia; and only one route in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin were covered both years.
Wildlife importation into the United States, 1900-1972
Data from Bureau of Biological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reports show an overall increase in the number of birds and mammals imported from 1900 to 1972. The trend was interrupted by World War I, the economic depression of the 1930's, and World War II. Data are lacking for the years after World War II until 1968. Until 1942, domesticated canaries and a few species of game birds made up most of the avian imports; the shell parakeet or budgerigar was the most commonly imported parrot. Although the total number ofbirds imported 1968-72 was-not greatly different from the pre-depression years, the proportion of canaries, game species, and parakeets declined greatly and the variety and number of cage birds including other parrot species greatly increased. Until 1930 most mammals imported were for laboratory use or fur farming. After 1930 the number of imported mammals increased with the growing importance of primates, especially rhesus macaques, in research. Since 1968 the number of mammals irnported annually has been at least 5 times greater than the previous peak of 1938, and primates have made up 87% of mammalian imports. Information on reptiles and amphibians imported into the United States is available only for 1970 and 1971. Turtles were the most commonly imported reptiles, frogs and toads the most commonly imported amphibians.
Modeling sandhill crane population dynamics
The impact of sport hunting on the Central Flyway population of sandhill cranes (Grus canadensis) has been a subject of controversy for several years. A recent study (Buller 1979) presented new and important information on sandhill crane population dynamics. The present report is intended to incorporate that and other information into a mathematical model for the purpose of assessing the long-range impact of hunting on the population of sandhill cranes.The model is a simple deterministic system that embodies density-dependent rates of survival and recruitment. The model employs four kinds of data: (1) spring population size of sandhill cranes, estimated from aerial surveys to be between 250,000 and 400,000 birds; (2) age composition in fall, estimated for 1974-76 to be 11.3% young; (3) annual harvest of cranes, estimated from a variety of sources to be about 5 to 7% of the spring population; and (4) age composition of harvested cranes, which was difficult to estimate but suggests that immatures were 2 to 4 times as vulnerable to hunting as adults.Because the true nature of sandhill crane population dynamics remains so poorly understood, it was necessary to try numerous (768 in all) combinations of survival and recruitment functions, and focus on the relatively few (37) that yielded population sizes and age structures comparable to those extant in the real population. Hunting was then applied to those simulated populations. In all combinations, hunting resulted in a lower asymptotic crane population, the decline ranging from 5 to 54%. The median decline was 22%, which suggests that a hunted sandhill crane population might be about three-fourths as large as it would be if left unhunted. Results apply to the aggregate of the three subspecies in the Central Flyway; individual subspecies or populations could be affected to a greater or lesser degree.
Some Bayesian statistical techniques useful in estimating frequency and density
This paper presents some elementary applications of Bayesian statistics to problems faced by wildlife biologists. Bayesian confidence limits for frequency of occurrence are shown to be generally superior to classical confidence limits. Population density can be estimated from frequency data if the species is sparsely distributed relative to the size of the sample plot. For other situations, limits are developed based on the normal distribution and prior knowledge that the density is non-negative, which insures that the lower confidence limit is non-negative. Conditions are described under which Bayesian confidence limits are superior to those calculated with classical methods; examples are also given on how prior knowledge of the density can be used to sharpen inferences drawn from a new sample.
Analysis and machine mapping of the distribution of band recoveries
A method of calculating distance and bearing from banding site to recovery location based on the solution of a spherical triangle is presented. X and Y distances on an ordinate grid were applied to computer plotting of recoveries on a map. The advantages and disadvantages of tables of recoveries by State or degree block, axial lines, and distance of recovery from banding site for presentation and comparison of the spatial distribution of band recoveries are discussed. A special web-shaped partition formed by concentric circles about the point of banding and great circles at 30-degree intervals through the point of banding has certain advantages over other methods. Comparison of distributions by means of a X? contingency test is illustrated. The statistic V = X?/N can be used as a measure of difference between two distributions of band recoveries and its possible use is illustrated as a measure of the degree of migrational homing.