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Migration And Mortality Of Banded Mourning Doves, Lawrence L. Thomforde

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

Banding data gathered over a three-year period at Savage, Minnesota, were analyzed to determine migration patterns and mortality rates of 2,218 mourning doves. The age ratio among trapped doves was 1.19 immatures per 1 adult and the sex ratio 3.84 males per 1 female. The weighted mean annual mortality rate for immature doves was 58.5 percent. For adult doves, the weighted annual mortality was 28.2 percent. The total weighted recovery rate was 1.24 immatures to 1 adult. The data show that immatures are 75 percent more vulnerable than adults to being shot; although no difference was found in direct recovery …