Presented by Georgina R. Eccles - Email: missgreccles@gmail.com
The continental population of the northern pintail (Anas acuta) remains depressed after 3 decades of good to excellent habitat conditions on breeding areas. As most other duck populations have realized record population abundance over this period, northern pintails have remained below population objectives. Although factors on breeding areas undoubtedly have impacts on pintail populations, it is likely that factors on nonbreeding areas also have impacted the species given its unique life-history characteristics. Pintails wintering in these different areas use different habitats during winter, are subject to different stressors during winter, appear to survive at different rates across winter, and migrate through markedly different landscapes during spring migration. Thus, our objectives are to (1) compare spring migration strategies of northern pintails within and among wintering areas in North America, (2) investigate linkages between migration strategies and reproductive success, (3) assess the contribution of endogenous nutrients to reproduction for different regions and different migration strategies, and (4) identify critical stopover areas for pintails migrating from different wintering areas. We propose to capture northern pintails at major wintering areas across North America (e.g., Louisiana coast, Texas coast, Texas Panhandle, New Mexico, Arizona, and central California) during December-January each year (2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22). Adult females (n = 500) will be outfitted with hybrid GPS-ACC tracking devices. Expected outcomes of this research include identification of important stopover sites, linking individual decisions (behavior and habitat use) during migration to reproductive success, and understanding differences in migration strategies within and among wintering regions and the potential for carry-over effects. Our results will provide a strong understanding of migration ecology of northern pintails that will help address questions important to resource managers.P.3-09: Investigating spring migration strategies of northern pintails
Georgina R. Eccles, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Texas
Daniel P. Collins, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Kevin J. Kraai, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Canyon, Texas
Mith D. Weegman, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
Bart M. Ballard, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Texas
Daniel P. Collins, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Kevin J. Kraai, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Canyon, Texas
Mith D. Weegman, School of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri
Bart M. Ballard, Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Texas