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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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International and Area Studies

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USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

Constructed island

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

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 Jun 2003

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 …


Nest Parasitism On Constructed Islands In Northwestern North Dakota, Amy L. Zimmerman, Marsha A. Sovada, Tim K. Kessler, Robert K. Murphy Feb 2003

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 …