7/5/2023 0 Comments Flocks of mallardsA multi-year, flyway-wide study is needed to make stronger and more rigorous inferences regarding potential changes in harvest distribution and annual harvest rates of mallards due to increasing use of SWDs by hunters in North America.Įffects of spinning-wing decoys on flock behavior and hunting vulnerability of mallards in Minnesotaġ0.2193/0091-7648(2005)332.0. Our study was confined to a single hunting season in Minnesota and thus did not assess whether vulnerability of mallards to hunters using SWDs varied among years or geographically. However, increasing use of SWDs by northern hunters may result in a partial redistribution of annual mallard harvests if nai?ve ducks are harvested upon initial exposures to SWDs, and those ducks that survive become habituated to SWDs, as suggested by our results. Using a worst-case scenario model, we predicted that if 47% and 79% of Minnesota hunters had used SWDs in 20, respectively, Minnesota mallard harvests would have increased by a factor of 2. We found no evidence that SWDs reduced crippling or allowed hunters to harvest relatively more drakes than hens. More hatch-year (HY) and after-hatch-year (AHY) mallards were killed when SWDs were turned ON than OFF however, AHYs were relatively less likely than were HYs to be killed with SWDs turned ON. Mallards killed/hour/hunter/hunt averaged 4.71 times higher (P < 0.001) when SWDs were turned ON than OFF. We found that mallard flocks (?1 duck) were 2.91 times more likely to respond (i.e., approach within 40 m of hunters), and sizes of responding mallard flocks were 1.25 times larger, on average, when SWDs were turned ON than OFF. During each hunt, we tested 2 SWD treatments: 1) SWDs turned OFF (control), and 2) SWDs turned ON (experimental) during alternate 15-minute sampling periods that were separated by 5-minute buffer periods. Accordingly, we conducted 219 experimental hunts to evaluate hunting vulnerability of mallards to SWDs during the 2002 duck season in Minnesota. It is a highly adaptable species that is able to successfully live alongside people.Waterfowl managers in Minnesota and other states are concerned that increased kill rates associated with the use of spinning-wing decoys (SWDs) may negatively affect local breeding populations of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). The mallard is one of the most numerous and widespread of all bird species. The young, ducklings, will begin to fly 49-60 days after hatching. She will incubate the eggs alone for 26-30 days. She will lay 10-12 light green to white eggs. She will line it with grass and feathers she plucks from her chest. The female builds a nest, usually on the ground and occasionally in a hollow tree. Mallards are dabbling ducks, which means they sift water through their bills.ġ3 to 15 years, with the oldest on record as 29 years old. Mallards may be found throughout the northern hemisphere North America, Asia and Europe. Occasionally they may be found at sea and in bays during the winter migration. Ponds, rivers, marshes, wooded swamps and lakes are common sites for feeding, nesting and socializing. They prefer still, shallow inland waterways. Flock of mallard ducks quacking sounds loud call, chuckle, sound effect HD video, audio wild male / drake, female / hen swimming in water, walkin. When huge flocks of mallards swirl in the autumn wind, dipping and rising as they. Both the male and female have a patch of blue on their wings called a speculum. Thats when field hunting for newly arrived ducks gets downright addictive. The female has varying shades of brown allover, orange webbed feet and a pale orange bill with a brown saddle. His webbed feet are orange and his bill is yellow. He has a white ring above his purplish-brown chest, a black rump with a couple of these tail feathers curled up to form small “c”s. His head and neck are green and sometimes when the sun reflects off these feathers he may appear purplish-blue.
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