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New Nesting Dates For Some Breeding Birds In North Dakota, Lawrence D. Igl, Harold A. Kantrud

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

There have been few published nest records for North Dakota (e.g., Haas 1985, Kantrud 1992, Buhl and Shaffer 2000) since Robert E. Stewart published Breeding Birds of North Dakota in 1975. For several species, we report dates for eggs, nestlings, or fledglings that occurred outside the intervals reported by Stewart (1975). For comparison, we provide nesting dates for breeding birds in South Dakota (Tallman et aI. 2002).

Guidelines For Finding Nests Of Passerine Birds In Tallgrass Prairie, Maiken Winter, Shawn E. Hawks, Jill A. Shaffer, Douglas H. Johnson

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The productivity of birds is one of the most critical components of their natural history affected by habitat quality. Birds might occur at high densities in a given habitat patch but have low nesting success. Such "population sinks" would not be detected if observers relied solely on estimates of bird density. Therefore, it is essential to monitor nests and determine their outcomes. Although interest in grassland-nesting passerines has increased greatly during the last decade, we still know little about factors affecting their nesting success. To stimulate more research in this area, we summarize several methods for nest-searching and provide suggestions …

Brown-Headed Cowbirds In Grasslands: Their Habitats, Hosts, And Response To Management, Jill A. Shaffer, Christopher M. Goldade, Meghan F. Dinkins, Douglas H. Johnson, Lawrence D. Igl, Betty R. Euliss

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) is an obligate brood parasite whose numbers have increased in recent decades to the potential detriment of the species that they parasitize. Thus, most management efforts focus on discouraging brown-headed cowbird parasitism or controlling brown-headed cowbird populations. Keys to discouraging brown-headed cowbird parasitism or controlling populations of brown-headed cowbirds in the Great Plains are maintaining large expanses of grassland, eliminating foraging areas (e.g., feedlots) and perch sites, and reducing the extent of overgrazed pastures.

Pheasants Of The World . . . Again, Brent E. Jamison

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The newest edition of Johnsgard's overview of the pheasants of the world is arranged in two parts, as was the first edition. Part One is entitled Comparative Biology and is divided into eight chapters: relationships and classification, hybridization and zoogeographic patterns, growth and behavioral development, general and social behavior, ecology and population biology, comparative mating systems and social signaling devices, reproductive biology, and aviculture and conservation. Part Two, Taxonomic Keys and Species Accounts, forms the bulk of the text. Part Two begins with keys to subfamilies, tribes, and the 16 genera. An account for each species follows the generic key. …

American Avocet Nesting On Constructed Islands In North Dakota, Ann L. Dahl, Douglas H. Johnson, Lawrence D. Igl, Kathy L. Baer, Terry L. Shaffer, Michael A. Johnson, Ronald E. Reynolds

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

We related American avocet (Recurvirostra americana) nesting on 30 earthen constructed islands in wetlands of the Prairie Pothole Region of North Dakota to characteristics of the islands and the surrounding landscape. We found 174 American avocet nests on 10 of the 30 islands; eight islands had four or more nests each. Most (85.9%) clutches contained four eggs. The majority of nests were found in upland graminoids (57.9%) or on unvegetated ground (31.6%). We found little evidence of nest predation or abandonment and concluded that most (84.5%) clutches hatched. Islands with beaches had a higher nest density (mean number …

Historical And Recent Records And First Nest Records Of Henslow's Sparrow In North Dakota, Jill A. Shaffer, Lawrence D. Igl, Frédérick Vanhove

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The northwestern limit of the Henslow's sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii) breeding distribution occurs in southern Minnesota and central Wisconsin. In North Dakota, observations of Henslow's sparrows are reported infrequently, and there are no published nest records in the state. Herein, we summarize and review previous reports of Henslow's sparrows in North Dakota and document the first two nest records of Henslow's sparrow in the state.

Differences In Distribution Of Modified Basins And Ducks Relative To Roadside Transects, Jane E. Austin, Glenn R. Guntenspergen, H. Thomas Sklebar, T. K. Buhl

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Wetland basins in the Prairie Pothole Region of the U.S. are commonly modified by excavation (e.g., roadside ditches, stock dugouts), partial drainage (ditching), and diking. Differences in the distribution of modified wetlands may affect the predictive accuracy of waterfowl survey data if such wetlands are not distributed randomly in the landscape and if waterfowl are not distributed equally among them. We used data collected on thirty-eight 40-km² plots in North Dakota to examine the distribution of modified basins relative to roadside transects and their use by five species of dabbling ducks in 1995. The 800-m-wide transects were subdivided into …

Nest Parasitism On Constructed Islands In Northwestern North Dakota, Amy L. Zimmerman, Marsha A. Sovada, Tim K. Kessler, Robert K. Murphy

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Parasitism of duck nests can reduce host productivity. We examined effects of nest parasitism on success of host nests found on constructed islands in the Fuller-Big Meadows marsh in northwestern North Dakota from 1994 to 2000. We found 1642 duck nests of 10 species on 25 0.3-ha islands. Nine hundred- seventy (59%) of the 1642 nests were parasitized, of which 87% were parasitized by redheads (Aythya americana). The observed parasitism rate was greater than 50% in four of seven years and was highest in 1997 (81 %, n = 252). Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) nests tended to …

Genetic Variation In The Midcontinental Population Of Sandhill Cranes, Grus Canadensis, Jessica L. Petersen, Richard Bischof, Gary L. Krapu, Allen L. Szalanski

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Three subspecies of sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) are recognized in the Midcontinental population, the lesser (Grus c. canadensis), Canadian (G. c. rowani), and greater (G. c. tabida). Blood samples collected on the population’s primary spring staging area in Nebraska, U.S.A., were used to resolve the genetic relationship among these subspecies. Phylogenetic analysis of 27 G. canadensis, by DNA sequencing of a 675 bp region of the mtDNA, supports the subspecies designations of G. c. canadensis and G. c. tabida. G. c. rowani individuals were intermediate with each of the other …

Native Weeds And Exotic Plants: Relationships To Disturbance In Mixed-Grass Prairie, Diane L. Larson

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Disturbance frequently is implicated in the spread of invasive exotic plants. Disturbances may be broadly categorized as endogenous (e.g., digging by fossorial animals) or exogenous (e.g., construction and maintenance of roads and trails), just as weedy species may be native or exotic in origin. The objective of this study was to characterize and compare exotic and native weedy plant occurrence in and near three classes of disturbance – digging by prairie dogs (an endogenous disturbance to which native plants have had the opportunity to adapt), paved or gravel roads (an exogenous disturbance without natural precedent), and constructed trails (an exogenous …

Male Brown-Headed Cowbird Attacks And Kills A Nestling, Lawrence D. Igl

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

I observed a male Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) attack and kill a nestling of an unidentified passerine in a grassland field in Day County, South Dakota, in June 2000. The killing or removal of nestlings by female cowbirds has been reported by others, but this behavior has not been documented previously in male cowbirds.

Wolf Interactions With Non-Prey, Warren B. Ballard, Ludwig N. Carbyn, Douglas W. Smith

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

WOLVES SHARE THEIR ENVIRONMENT with many animals besides those that they prey on, and the nature of the interactions between wolves and these other creatures varies considerably. Some of these sympatric animals are fellow canids such as foxes, coyotes, and jackals. Others are large carnivores such as bears and cougars. In addition, ravens, eagles, wolverines, and a host of other birds and mammals interact with wolves, if only by feeding on the remains of their kills.

Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, And Conservation: Photo Section Ii, Douglas W. Smith, L. David Mech, Isaac Babcock, Melissa Mccaw

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Adult wolves are very attentive to the pups. Both parents feed and care for them. Any older siblings similarly participate in pup care and feeding. Kin selection is probably the best explanation for the latter behavior. Top: Photograph by Isaac Babcock. Bottom: Photograph by L. David Mech.

Wolf-Prey Relations, L. David Mech, Rolf O. Peterson

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

AS 1 (L. o. MECH) watched from a small ski plane while fifteen wolves surrounded a moose on snowy Isle Royale, I had no idea this encounter would typify observations I would make during 40 more years of studying wolf-prey interactions.

My usual routine while observing wolves hunting was to have my pilot keep circling broadly over the scene so I could watch the wolves' attacks without disturbing any of the animals. Only this time there was no attack. The moose held the wolves at bay for about 5 minutes (fig. p), and then the pack left.

From this observation …

Introduction, L. David Mech, Luigi Boitani

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

THE WOLF IS TRULY a special animal. As the most widely distributed of all land mammals, the wolf, formally the gray wolf (Canis lupus), is also one of the most adaptable. It inhabits all the vegetation types of the Northern Hemisphere and preys on all the large mammals living there. It also feeds on all the other animals in its environment, scavenges, and can even eat fruits and berries. Wolves frequent forests and prairies, tundra, barren ground, mountains, deserts, and swamps. Some wolves even visit large cities, and, of course, the wolf's domesticated version, the dog, thrives in …

Wolf Social Ecology, L. David Mech, Luigi Boitani

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

THE FIRST REAL BEGINNING to our understanding of wolf social ecology came from wolf 2204 on 23 May 1972. State depredation control trapper Lawrence Waino, of Duluth, Minnesota, had caught this female wolf 112 km ( 67 mi) south of where L. D. Mech had radio-collared her in the Superior National Forest 2 years earlier. A young lone wolf, nomadic over 100 km² (40 mi²) during the 9 months Mech had been able to keep track of her, she had then disappeared until Waino caught her. From her nipples it was apparent that she had just been …

Effects Of Ungulates And Prairie Dogs On Seed Banks And Vegetation In A North American Mixed-Grass Prairie, Jace T. Fahnestock, Diane L. Larson, Glenn E. Plumb, James K. Detling

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The relationship between vegetation cover and soil seed banks was studied in five different ungulate herbivoreprairie dog treatment combinations at three northern mixed-grass prairie sites in Badlands National Park, South Dakota. There were distinct differences in both the seed bank composition and the aboveground vegetation between the off-prairie dog colony treatments and the on-colony treatments. The three on-colony treatments were similar to each other at all three sites with vegetation dominated by the forbs Dyssodia papposa, Hedeoma spp., Sphaeralcea coccinea, Conyza canadensis, and Plantago patagonica and seed banks dominated by the forbs Verbena bracteata and Dyssodia papposa. The …

Evaluation Of Landscape Models For Wolverines In The Interier Northwest, United States Of America, Mary M. Rowland, Michael J. Wisdom, Douglas H. Johnson, Barbara C. Wales, Jeffrey P. Copeland, Frank B. Edelmann

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

The wolverine (Gulo gulo) is an uncommon, wide-ranging carnivore of conservation con- cern. We evaluated performance of landscape models for wolverines within their historical range at 2 scales in the interior Northwest based on recent observations (n = 421) from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. At the sub-basin scale, simple overlays of habitat and road-density classes were effective in predicting observations of wolverines. At the watershed scale, we used a Bayesian belief network model to provide spatially explicit estimates of relative habitat capability. The model has 3 inputs: amount of habitat, human population density, and road density. …

Effects Of Leafy Spurge Infestation On Grassland Birds, Daniel M. Scheiman, Eric K. Bollinger, Douglas H. Johnson

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Grassland bird populations are declining. Invasive plant species may be contributing to these declines by altering habitat quality. However, the effects of invasive plants on grassland birds are largely unknown. Leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) is an exotic, invasive weed in the northern Great Plains. We examined the effects of leafy spurge infestation on densities of breeding birds, nest-site selection, and nest success in grasslands on the Sheyenne National Grassland (SNG), North Dakota, USA, 1999-2000. We categorized spurge-infested grasslands into 3 groups (low, medium, high), based on the area covered by spurge patches. We surveyed 75 100-m-radius circular points …

Sampling Designs For Carnivore Scent-Station Surveys, Glen A. Sargeant, Douglas H. Johnson, William E. Berg

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Scent stations usually are deployed in clusters to expedite data collection and increase the number of stations that can be operated for a given cost. Presumed benefits of cluster sampling may not be realized, however, unless cluster sizes are chosen with respect to sampling variation within and among clusters. To encourage and facilitate the use of efficient designs and reporting standards, we used data collected in Minnesota, USA, during 1986-1991 to (1) compare the performance of survey designs with various numbers of stations/cluster; (2) estimate relations between required sample sizes and visitation rates, changes in visitation rates, and error rates; …

Wolves And Humans, Steven H. Fritts, Robert O. Stephenson, Robert D. Hayes, Luigi Boitani

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

TRY TO IMAGINE a small group of wolves sitting at a table engaged in vigorous debate. These wolves are from various parts of the globe and are perhaps a bit more scholarly than most. In fact, they are especially knowledgeable about the biology of that notorious two-legged species, Homo sapiens. They have been brought together to document their relationship with humans over the last several millennia. Pause for a few moments and consider what they might say ...

Perhaps the wolves' discussion would chronicle the evils of the human species, including details of atrocities committed against lupine ancestors down …

Restoration Of The Red Wolf, Michael K. Phillips, V. Gary Henry, Brian T. Kelly

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

"WOLFERS" IN NORTHEASTERN North Carolina were busy on February 5, 1768. Records from the Tyrrell County courthouse read:

Giles Long and Thomas Wilkinson awarded one pound for a certified wolf scalp; Jeremiah Norman awarded two pounds for certified wolf and wild-cat scalps; Davenport Smithwick awarded one pound for a certified wolf-scalp.

Such was the nature of the war on the wolf: people killed them for money. The belief of the time held that the war was necessary because it was humankind's manifest destiny to tame the wilderness. And for the wilderness to be tame, the wolf had to be exterminated. …

References, L. David Mech, Luigi Boitani

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Abrams, P. A. 2000. The evolution of predator-prey interactions. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 31:79-105.

Abuladze, K. I. 1964. Osnovy Tsestodologii. Vol. IV. Teniatylentochnye gel' minty zhivotnykh i cheloveka i vyzyvaevaniia. Nauka, Moscow. 530 pp.

Achuff, P. L., and R. Petocz. 1988. Preliminary resource inventory of the Arjin Mountains Nature Reserve, Xinjiang, People's Republic of China. World Wide Fund for Nature, Gland, Switzerland. 78 pp.

Ackerman, B. B., F. A. Leban, M. D. Samuel, and E. 0. Garton. 1990. User's manual for program Home Range. 2d ed. Technical Report no. 15. Forestry, Wildlife, and Range Experiment Station, University ofldaho, Moscow.

Acorn, …

Wolf Population Dynamics, Todd K. Fuller, L. David Mech, Jean Fitts Cochrane

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

A LARGE, DARK WOLF poked his nose out of the pines in Yellowstone National Park as he thrust a broad foot deep into the snow and plowed ahead. Soon a second animal appeared, then another, and a fourth. A few minutes later, a pack of thirteen lanky wolves had filed out of the pines and onto the open hillside.

Wolf packs are the main social units of a wolf population. As numbers of wolves in packs change, so too, then, does the wolf population (Rausch 1967). Trying to understand the factors and mechanisms that affect these changes is what the …

Wolves: Behavior, Ecology, And Conservation: Photo Section I, Douglas W. Smith, Rolf Peterson, L. David Mech, Barron Crawford

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Wolves in Yellowstone National Park's restored population often must compete with grizzly bears at the carcasses of their kills. Especially after their first feeding at a kill, wolves tend to relinquish their kills to bears. Photograph by Doug Smith.

Elk are one of the most common prey of wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains of North America, primarily because in most areas they tend to outnumber other prey. This large bull standing his ground escaped this pack. Photograph by Doug Smith.

Conclusion, L. David Mech, Luigi Boitani

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

WOLVES CAN LIVE almost anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere, and almost everywhere they do, they are an issue. In the vast emptiness of the northern tundra or the Arabian desert, on the outskirts of a European town or in the safety of an American national park, in meager agricultural lands in India or mountains in rich Norway or Switzerland, wolves always attract people's attention. Wolves form a key part of many ecosystems, and they are considered charismatic creatures by most human cultures. Thus they polarize public opinion and make headlines year after year.

If we look back 6o years to …

Incidence Of Mink, Mustela Vison, And River Otter, Lutra Canadensis, In A Highly Urbanized Area, L. David Mech

USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Mink (Mustela vison) frequently inhabited or traversed a residential. business. and industrial part of the Twin Cities. Minnesota, with little water or natural vegetation. At least one River Otter (Lutra canadensis) also resided on a small pond on a golf course in the area for several winter months.