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Mortality During the Breeding Season

Table 12-3. Some Mortality Rates of Duck Nests in North America and Principal Causes of Mortality

   
Number of
   
Species
Habitat
Locationa
Study years
Nests
Mortality ratesb
Mortality causes c
Source
Dabbling ducks
    Black-bellied
      Whistling       Duckd		SteppeTex.
3
32
0.56P, a, oBolen (1967)
    North
    American
      Wood       Duckd		WoodlotsIll.
7
276
0.57 (0.46 - 0.72)P, a, wBellrose et al. (1964)
    GadwallImpoundment
    islands		Sask.
2
384
0.25P, AHines and Mitchell (1983)
    MallardParkland
 
Prairie
 
Prairie		Man.
 
Sask.
 
N. Dak.
4
 
3
 
4
213
 
611
 
129
0.57 (0.48-0.62)
0.23 (0.19-0.33)
0.92(0.87-0.94)		P,o,a,m,w
 
P, o, a, m
 
P,a,o,m,w		Dzubin and Gollop (1972)

Dzubin and Gollop (1972)

Cowardin et al. (1985)
    Black duck
     7 species
     5 species
     7 species
     8 species
     7 species
     6 species
     5 speciese
 
     6 species
     6 species
     5 species
 
 
     5 species		Estuary
Prairie
Prairie
Irrigated steppe
Parkland
Parkland
Meadow
Irrigated
    hay marsh
Retired farmland
Prairie
Prairie-parkland
 
 
Prairie		Que.
Alb.
Nebr.
Oreg.
Alb.
Sask.
Man.
Sask.
 
Wis.
Iowa
Alb., Man., Sask.
 
Minn., N.Dak., S.Dak.
10
5
5
1
14
14
1
2

3
2
4
 
 
18
590
556
206
93
729
2,561
234
511
 
679
451
4,846
 

15,642
0.54(0.29-0.70)
0.66
0.89
0.7
0.56
0.67
0.27
0.61,0.76
 
0.85 (0.68-0.95)
0.85,0.90
0.88 (0.85-0.94)
 
 
0.87 (0.86-0.88)		P, a
P, a, w
P,M,o,a,w
P, A, w
P,O,m,a,w
P,m,w,a,o
P, a
P, m

P, o
P, w, o
P,a,o,m,w
 

P, m, o, w		 Reed (1975a)
Keith (1961)
Evans and Wolfe (1967)
Jarvis and Harris (1971)
Smith (1971)
Stoudt (1971)
Oetting and Dixon (1977)
MacLennan (1977)

Livezey (1981)
Fleskes (1986)
Canadian Wildlife Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (1987)
Klett et al. (1988)f
Diving ducks
    CanvasbackParkland ponds
Parkland ponds		Sask.
Man.
5
12
200
1,858
0.57 (0.43-0.69)
0.55 (0.38-0.79)		P, a, o, w
P, w, a, o		Sugden (1978)
Stoudt (1982)
    RedheadFarmland lakeQue.
4
182
0.07 (0.04-0.09)A, pAlliston (1979)
    Ring-necked
    Duck		Forest/coastal
    bogs/lakes
Forest bog ponds		Maine,N.B.
 
Minn.
17
 
8
522
 
188
0.31(0.18-0.50)
 
0.75 (0.26-0.90)		P, w, a
 
P, a, w		Mendall (1958)

Eberharct and Sperry (1986)
    Spectacled
    Eider		TundraAlaska (2)
4
751g
0.32gP,a,oMickelson (1975)
    Common
    Eider		Coastal island
Tundra
Tundra island
Tundra island
Tundra island		Maine
Man. (8)
Man. (8)
N.W.T. (9)
Alaska (10)
2
3
3
2
1
963
76
1,085
1,758g
39
 0.61, 0.64
0.62 (0.43-0.81)
0.37 (0.27-0.54)
0.23, 0.14g
0.67		 P,a,w
P
P
P, o
P		 Choate (1967)
Schmutz et al. (1983)
Schmutz et al. (1983)
Cooch (1965)
Schamel (1977)
    Long-tailed
    Duck		TundraMan. (11)
4
95
0.59P, A, oAlison (1975)
    White-winged
    Scoter		Prairie lake
    islands		Alb., Sask.
2
148
0.27, 0.30P, ABrown and Brown (1981)
    BuffleheaddForestB.C.
4
193
0.21 (0.19-0.24)A, p, oErskine (1971)
    5 speciesPrairieAlb.
5
250
0.69P, a, wKeith (1961)
    5 speciesParklandAlb.
14
421
0.56P,o,a,m,wSmith (1971)
    5 speciesParklandSask.
14
375
0.43P,w,a,o,mStoudt (1971)
Ducks
    Many specieshVariedN. Amer.
>20
>7,600
0.41 (0.15-0.71)i Kalmbach (1939), summary of 20 studies or study years
    11 specieshPrairie/woodlandMinn.
4
493
0.66P, m, o, aMoyle (1964)
    Many specieshVariedCentral
    N. Amer.
42j
7,184
0.58 (0.32-0.87)jP,w,a,o,mMoyle (1964), summaries of 18 studies or study years, excluding studies cited in Kalmbach (1939)
    5 specieskRiver deltaSask.
2
215
0.49P, aTownsend (1966)
    9 specieshPrairie islandN.Dak.
2
399
0.09, 0.17P, A, oDuebbert (1982)
    Several
    speciesh		Prairie islandN.Dak.
5
2,426
0.15 (0.08-0.19)A, o, pDuebbert et al. (1983)
    10 specieshPrairie Mont., N.Dak., S.Dak.
1
678
0.88P,m,a,w,oJohnson et al. (1987)
a Number in parentheses refers to location shown on Figure 12-1.
b Unweighted average from all years unless noted otherwise; range for different years is in parentheses. Mortality rates from studies where sampling biases were known or likely to have been accounted for are underlined; all other rates are apparent rates and are likely biased low.
cMortality-cause codes are: P = predation, M = farm machinery, W = weather but primarily flooding, A = abandonment, 0 = other/ undetermined. Letter styles reflect calculated or implied proportion of mortality ascribed to each cause as follows: capital letter = major factor (> 50%), italicized capital letter = moderate factor (> 25-50%), lowercase letter = limited factor (> 10-25%), and italicized lowercase letter = minor factor (≤ 10%).
d Data presented are for nests in natural cavities only, except for Erskine (1971) which may include some nests in man-made structures.
eIncludes a few unidentified diving ducks.
fCauses of mortality are for North Dakota only but likely represent all sample areas. Nest records in analysis included those in Cowardin et al. (1985), Johnson et al. (1987) and normal nests (excludes those on islands, man-made structures, and other sites where predation was manipulated) from several other studies including Duebbert (1969), Duebbert and Kantrud (1974), Duebbert and Lokemoen (1976), Higgins (1977), Duebbert et al. (1986), and Greenwood (1986).
g Number of eggs (not nests). Mortality rates and causes of mortality pertain to eggs (not nests).
hPrimarily dabbling ducks.
iAverages of study and study-area years.
jStudy-area years.
k Primarily diving ducks.

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