Adult Mourning Dove Survival during Spring/Summer in Northcentral Missouri

• Published in: The Journal of wildlife management Vol. 60; no. 1; pp. 148 - 154
• Main Authors: Schulz, John H., Drobney, Ronald D., Sheriff, Steven L., Fuemmeler, Wesley J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD The Wildlife Society 01-01-1996; Wildlife Society; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Animal and plant ecology; Animal traps; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Aves; Biological and medical sciences; Birds; Demecology; Doves; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Mortality; Population estimates; Spring; Summer; Survival analysis; Survival rates; Vertebrata; Wildlife biology; Wildlife conservation; Wildlife management; Zenaida macroura; United States; North America; America; Missouri; USA, Missouri; Vertebrata; Mortality; Spring(season); Zenaida macroura; Adult animal; Summer; Aves; Survival; Population decline
• ISSN: 0022-541X; 1937-2817
• DOI: 10.2307/3802049

We estimated spring/summer survival during 1990-91 with 315 radiomarked doves on 2 areas in northcentral Missouri to understand mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) population declines in the Eastern-Central Management Unit (E-CMU) states. No differences were found among areas, years, or sexes so data were pooled to calculate a composite spring/summer survival estimate. Overall survival of mourning doves during spring/summer was 0.716 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.651-0.782). Although there are no other mourning dove period survival estimates with which to compare, our survival estimates indicate that spring/summer is probably not a period of high mortality. Interpretation of these survival estimates and their associated management prescriptions, however, are tentative until additional estimates from other areas are available. Sample size suggestions are provided for future studies estimating mourning dove survival using radiomarked doves.