Refuge use by hatching-year ring-necked ducks: An individual-based telemetry approach

Abstract

Many studies have quantified use of established refuges where hunting is not permitted by counting waterfowl or conducting behavioral observations on refuges during hunting season. However, refuge use by individually marked birds remains largely unexplored, along with arrival and departure times, lengths of stay, and nighttime use. We used radio-transmitters and telemetry receiving stations that continuously scanned at 14 waterfowl refuges to test predictions that refuge use would be greatest during hunting hours and on weekends when hunting intensity was expected to be greatest, and that departures would occur in the evening after hunting ended. Movements on and off refuges coincided with sunrise and sunset, which approximated hunting hours. The average length of refuge stay was 12.0 ± 0.5 hours, although some departing birds returned repeatedly to refuges, resulting in longer accumulative stays. Use during the day was greater than at night at most refuges (92.7 ± 18.1 vs. 56.1 ± 10.8 hr, P = 0.03) and was greater on weekends during hunting season than before hunting opened (0.36 ± 0.03 vs. 0.22 ± 0.05, P = 0.01). We also documented nighttime use at refuges with good or excellent food ratings by wildlife managers. Our findings are consistent with the use of refuges to avoid disturbance and suggest that many of these areas provide numerous benefits to ring-necked ducks during fall staging and migration in northern Minnesota. Published 2014. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.