Abstract
Wilson's snipeGallinago delicatais one of the least studied North American game birds, and information on snipe populations and abundance is mostly unknown. We conducted roadside surveys stratified at the township level in the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV) in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana, as well as the Red River Region, and the Gulf Coastal Plain of Louisiana during winters of 2009 and 2010. We identified observer, vegetation cover, and water cover as important covariates in estimating snipe densities. We detected 2915 snipe along 814 line transects (1450 km) for 2009 and 2010 combined. We estimated snipe densities of 8.05 individuals km‐2(95% CI: 4.57–14.17) in 2009, and 2.13 individuals km‐2(95% CI: 1.47–3.08) in 2010. We used the resulting snipe density estimates within the study area to calculate abundance estimates of 1 026 431 (95%CI: 582 707‐1 806 774) in 2009, and 271 590 (95%CI: 187 435‐392 722) in 2010 for the LMAV. Our data indicate that a road transect survey method is effective for estimating wintering snipe density and abundance in the lower Mississippi Flyway.
Highlights
BioOne Complete is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses
Our data indicate that a road transect survey method is effective for estimating wintering snipe density and abundance in the lower Mississippi Flyway
Current North American population estimates are largely educated guesses of around two million (Delaney and Scott 2006) while a regional estimate for the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV), an important migrating and wintering area for snipe, is around two thousand (Elliot and McKnight 2000). This estimate of snipe abundance in the LMAV seems to be low, given that recent harvest estimates show that Louisiana recorded the highest estimated snipe harvest in the LMAV (24 100 108%) in 2010, and that 40 200 ( 60%) snipe were estimated to have been harvested in the entire Mississippi Flyway in 2010 (Raftovich et al 2011)
Summary
BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Current North American population estimates are largely educated guesses of around two million (Delaney and Scott 2006) while a regional estimate for the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV), an important migrating and wintering area for snipe, is around two thousand (Elliot and McKnight 2000). Decisions concerning snipe harvest regulations at the flyway level presently are based on both the CBC and BBS data (Mississippi Flyway Council Technical Section Webless Migratory Game Bird Committee 2010 unpubl.) Both of the large-scale surveys produce questionable results for snipe in part because snipe are cryptic, snipe breed at high latitudes and so are not surveyed well by the BBS (Robbins et al 1986), and snipe are thought to move regionally during December (Tuck 1972) when the CBC is conducted. For these and other reasons, a statistically-based large-scale survey on which to base future snipe harvest regulation decisions is needed (Mueller 1999)
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