Influence of Neck Bands on Recovery and Survival Rates of Canada Geese

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Approximately 15,000 Canada geese (Branta candensis) were either legbanded or legbanded and neckbanded at Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) from 1974 to 1980. Band recovery analysis between these 2 groups showed differences in the direct recovery rates of both juvenile and adult geese. These differences were primarily attributed to reporting rate and monthly banding distribution. Survival rates of neck-banded adults were not significantly different (P > 0.40) from those of leg-banded adults. Survival rates of neck-banded juveniles were significantly lower (P < 0.10) than those of leg-banded juveniles in 2 of 6 years. We performed simulations to evaluate the combined effects of neck band loss and increased reporting rate on survival and recovery estimates obtained from band recovery methods. Our simulations showed that the average survival and recovery rates were only slightly biased and, therefore, did not affect our conclusions.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: