HARVEST PARAMETERS OF URBAN AND RURAL MOURNING DOVES IN OHIO

Abstract

Abstract Few if any studies have examined the influence of a recently implemented hunting season on harvest characteristics of mourning doves (Zenaida macroura). We conducted a reward banding study in Ohio, USA, during 1996–1998 to compare harvest rates in urban and rural areas and to estimate overall harvest rate and band-reporting rate. Estimates from band-recovery models provided strong evidence for site- and year-specific variation in harvest rates of doves captured at urban and rural sites. Annual harvest-rate estimates ranged from 0.006 (95% CI: 0.001 to 0.011) to 0.011 (95% CI: 0.005 to 0.018) for birds captured at urban sites, and from 0.034 (95% CI: 0.022 to 0.045) to 0.054 (95% CI: 0.039 to 0.069) for birds captured at rural sites. The estimated reporting rate of 0.208 (95% CI: 0.142 to 0.274) was less than previously published estimates, probably because of a lack of familiarity of hunters with dove bands. In our study, >80% of the harvest of banded birds occurred in Ohio, suggesting that hunti...