We need a season change, We need everyone's help

[tupe]

The issue of pari bonding is not that they are bonding in January, but that it has been seen that bonds broken later in teh winter cause a reduced nesting effort success. When a hen has to go thoruhg the mate selection process later in the winter she is burning up reserves of fat and endurance she needs to bring off a successful hatch.

The majority of pair bonds are made by early december, but are easily reformed with anegligable effect of nest success up until the area of January 20th. At that point the breaking of pair bond begin to have a noticible impact on overall breeding.

That is why the MGBTA set the season ending dates that they did.

Tupe

[bigduck]

[feather]

[feather]

[tupe]

[bigduck]

[tupe]

Here is the report I read, took me a minute but I found it:

From : Mate Loss In Winter Affects Reproduction Of Mallards
Barbara A. Lercel,Richard M. Kaminski, and Robert R. Cox, Jr.


Abstract: Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) frequently pair during winter, and duck hunting seasons have been extended until the end of January in several southern states in the Mississippi Flyway. Therefore, we simulated dissolution of pair bonds from natural or hunting mortality by removing mates of wild-strain, captive, yearling female mallards in late January 1996 and early February 1997 to test if mate loss in winter would affect subsequent pair formation and reproductive performance. Most (97%) widowed females paired again. Nesting and incubation frequencies, nest-initiation date, days between first and second nests, and egg mass did not differ (P ≥ 0.126) between widowed and control (i.e., no mate loss experienced) females in 1996 and 1997. In 1997, widowed females laid 1.91 fewer eggs in first nests (P = 0.014) and 3.75 fewer viable eggs in second nests (P = 0.056). Computer simulations with a mallard productivity model (incorporating default parameters [i.e., average environmental conditions]) indicated that the observed decreased clutch size of first nests, fewer viable eggs in second nests, and these factors combined had potential to decrease recruitment rates of yearling female mallards 9%, 12%, and 20%. Our results indicate that winter mate loss could reduce reproductive performance by yearling female mallards in some years. We suggest caution regarding extending duck hunting seasons in winter without concurrent evaluations of harvest and demographics of mallard and other duck populations.

Here is the link to the full report, its good reading.

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/bird ... /index.htm

Tupe

[bigduck]

[duckkiller]

[mudsucker]

[GulfCoast]

[mottlet]

[sportsman450]

One of the funniest things about this whole discussion is that the very same people who are praising Lott for what he did are some of the ones who are always using the 60/6 is OK because the biologists say it is argument. The funny part is that Lott HELD THE COUNTRY HOSTAGE in order to circumvent the recommendations of USF&W, The Mississippi Flyway Commission, and these very same biologists.

[Po Monkey Lounger]

[Bayou Beagle]

Dam PO Monkey....

tell it like it is!!!!!