Bird Dog Research Articles

Olfaction in bird dogs during hunting.

The ability to catch scent continuously while running, which may be an essential skill for many animals of prey, requires that ambient air flows inward through the nose also during expiration. In this study on bird dogs, the direction of air flow was detected by measuring the temperature in the air inside the nostril. While resting, nose ventilation was synchronous with lung ventilation. While searching for ground scent, the dog was sniffing at a frequency of up to 200 s-1, a strategy which may create turbulence in the nasal passages and thereby enhance transport of scent molecules to the receptors in the ethmoidal cavity. When the bird dog was searching for game while running with its head high against the wind, it maintained a continuous inward air stream through the nose for up to 40s spanning at least 30 respiratory cycles. We suggest that expiratory gas flowing at high velocity from the trachea to the mouth cavity creates a lower pressure than in the nose thus causing an inward air stream through the nose during expiration by a Bernoulli effect.

Dynamics of an Unexploited Bobwhite Population in Deteriorating Habitat

The dynamics of an unexploited bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) population were investigated over a 9-year period in southern Illinois. Deteriorating habitat caused an 85% population decline from 136 to 21 birds per 100 hectares. Accompanying changes in demographic parameters are described. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 43(2):306-315 Since 1950, the Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory (CWRL) of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale has been investigating the ecology of a hunted bobwhite population near Carbondale (Roseberry and Klimstra 1972). A 2nd study was initiated in 1965 to obtain comparative data from a nearby unexploited population. Because of substantial changes in the latter area's carrying capacity for bobwhites, some planned analyses were precluded. However, the situation did provide opportunity to observe certain population phenomena under unique conditions. The purpose of this paper is to: (1) document a rapid and considerable decline in the abundance of a local unexploited bobwhite population, (2) describe the changes in various demographic parameters which accompanied this decline, and (3) attempt to identify the causes of the decline. This paper is a contribution from Project No. 1: Bobwhite Quail Life History and Population Studies, Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. The authors are grateful to the many graduate students and undergraduate student workers of the Laboratory who aided in censuses and nest hunting. Appreciation s ext nded to S. L. Wunderle, W. H. Nesbitt, and D. Urban for their special contributions to the project. The collaboration of personnel of the University Farms is acknowledged. STUDY AREA AND METHODS The study area was a 449-ha tract owned by Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale in Jackson County, hereafter referred to as the SIU Farms. Farming activities were conducted by various departments within the School of Agriculture. The area was bounded on the south and west primarily by other SIU farmland and on the north and east by residential areas and the campus. Topography is gently rolling with maximum and minimum elevation 146 and 125 m, respectively. The glaciated soils are Hosmer and Stoy silt loams of moderate productivity and medium fertility. Distribution and abundance of bobwhites were determined 4 times each year (early November, late December, early February, and mid-March) by direct census. The entire area was systematically traversed by crews of 6-12 men and 1-2 trained bird dogs. Nest searching of selected areas employed methods described by Klimstra and Roseberry (1975:7). Live-trapping utilized wire traps described by Stoddard (1931:447) and baited with either grain or live decoy 1 Present address: 105-K East Ticonderoga Drive, Westerville, OH 43081. 306 J. Wildl. Manage. 43(2):1979 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.35 on Mon, 29 Aug 2016 05:16:09 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms BOBWHITE IN DETERIORATING HABITAT. Roseberry et al. 307 hens. Captured birds were marked with No. 1 aluminum leg bands (National Band and Tag Co., Newport, Ky.) and their sex, age, and weight were determined prior to release at the capture site. Land use and cover patterns were recorded on 1 July and 1 November of each year. Cover removal or other habitat alteration was recorded as it occurred.

A Method for Estimating Fall Adult Sex Ratios from Production and Survival Data

This paper presents a method of utilizing data relating to the production and survival of a bird population to estimate a basic fall adult sex ratio. This basic adult sex ratio is an average value derived from average production and survival rates. It is an estimate of the average sex ratio about which the fall adult ratios will fluctuate according to annual variations in production and survival. The basic fall adult sex ratio has been calculated as an asymptotic value which is the limit of an infinite series wherein average population characteristics are used as constants. Graphs are provided that allow the determination of basic sex ratios from production and survival data of a population. Where the respective asymptote has been determined, it may be possible to estimate various production and survival rates by use of variations of the formula for estimating the asymptote. The problem of determining a fall adult sex ratio of a bird population has many pitfalls if the data are derived from such sources as wing surveys, bag checks, breeding population surveys, or trapped birds. Corrections must be made for such potential sources of bias as these: differential vulnerability to the gun; unequal trapping success for one sex rather than the other; differences in behavior or coloration that make one sex more readily observed than the other. The purpose of this paper is to pr sent a method that permits the estimat on of adult sex ratios using production and survival data. It might appear that if the annual average survival rate of males in a population is greater than the female rate, the sex ratio of the population would increasingly favor the males, with a possible detriment to the pop1 Present address: Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis. 185 ROBBINS, C. S. 1960. Woodcock status report1960. U. S. Fish and Wildl. Serv. Spec. Sci. Rept.-Wildl. 50. 26pp. SHELDON, W. G. 1961. Summer crepuscular flights of American woodcocks in central Massachusetts. Wilson Bull. 73(2):126-139. --, F. GREELEY, AND J. KUPA. 1958. Aging fall-shot American woodcocks by primary wear. J. Wildl. Mgmt. 22(3):310-312. WALLACE, G. J. 1962. The seventh spring dieoff of robins at East Lansing, Michigan. The Jack-Pine Warbler 40(1):28-32. , AND R. F. BERNARD. 1963. Tests show 40 species of birds poisoned by DDT. Audubon Magazine 65(4):195-203. 1, A. C. ETTER, AND D. R. OSBORNE. 1964. Spring mortality of birds following fall spraying of elms. Massachusetts Audubon 48(3): 116-120. WEBB, F. E., J. R. BLAIS, AND R. W. NASH. 1961. A cartographic history of spruce budworm outbreaks and aerial forest spraying in the Atlantic region of North America, 1949-1959. Canadian Entomol. 93(5):360-379. WRIGHT, B. S. 1952. Woodcock banding with bird dogs. Pages 45-46. In Aldrich, J. W., and others, Investigations of woodcock, snipe, and rails in 1951. U. S. Fish and Wildl. Serv. and Canadian Wildl. Serv. Spec. Sci. Rept.Wildl. 14. 58pp. 1960. Woodcock reproduction in DDTsprayed areas of New Brunswick. J. Wildl. Mgmt. 24(4):419-420. Received for publication May 19, 1964. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.17 on Wed, 31 Aug 2016 05:15:56 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 186 Journal of Wildlife Management, Vol. 29, No. 1, January 1965 ulation as a whole. This subject has been mentioned by William R. Hanson (Calculation of productivity, survival, and abundance of selected vertebrates from sex and age ratios. Wildl. Monographs 9. 60pp. 1963). He states, Unequal numbers of sexes among mature animals tend to be equalized by the addition of the next crop of subadults if the sex ratio of subadults is approximately (Hanson 1963:11). We will expand the treatment of the subject to show that under most conditions the sex ratio of adults tends to stabilize, even though the sex ratio of subadults is not

Procedures for Prospecting Highly Explored Areas: ABSTRACT

A highly explored area is considered to be one in which the regional structure has been defined, the regional stratigraphy is well understood, and a representative number of demonstrably closed traps have been drilled and reliably evaluated, regardless of well density or productivity. The approach to further exploration can follow 3 End_Page 1085------------------------------ routes: (1) a theoretical application of scientific knowledge to the already known geological details to determine where prospects should be; (2) working by analogy--finding areas where geological details resemble those of known producing areas; and (3) a bird dog search for details that have been overlooked or improperly interpreted that point up prospects. These approaches are interrelated. The most important exploration methods can be summarized as surface geology, subsurface well geology, seismic survey, gravity survey, and magnetic survey. In a highly explored area surface geology, if feasible at all, is detailed and fairly complete. Gravity and magnetic surveys do not ordinarily refine an anomaly sufficiently to provide drilling prospects. Thus, the subsurface picture, growing more complete with each new well, becomes the most effective source of new prospects. Seismic survey commonly is useful in bridging the information gap between wells, especially when programmed to test a specific prospect lead. How do discoveries result in highly explored areas? 1. Refinement of, or finding, new structural details. 2. Reinterpretation of structure. 3. Refinement of, or finding, new stratigraphic details. 4. Reinterpretation of stratigraphy. 5. Improvement of producing techniques. 6. Improvements in equipment. 7. Change in economics or management attitude. 8. Stumbling into an unanticipated productive situation. Interesting examples of the foregoing include Dutch Slough; Little Sand Draw, Wyoming; Castaic Junction; Asphalto; Poso Creek; Brentwood; Lathrop; Beverly Hills; Anaheim; and Grimes. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1086------------

"Rum, Romanism and Rebellion" Resurrected

AMONG THE PAPERS of Mr. Justice John Marshall Harlan, grandfather of the recent Eisenhower appointee to the United States Supreme Court, is a memorandum relating to a famous political incident that took place in 1884. In a presidential election noted for vilification on all sides, the Reverend Samuel D. Burchard characterized the Democratic party as one of Rum, Romanism and Rebellion. This epithetic phrase turned out to be a classic campaign blunder. Heretofore unpublicized, Justice Harlan's version of the blunder in James G. Blaine's campaign for the presidency differs from the standard explanation of the Plumed Knight's behavior at the time of the incident. It also points up the predicament confronted by all politicians who are caught in similar circumstances. For now as then, a chance remark may prove to be costly, if not fatal, at the polls. We have recently witnessed a modern campaign blunder by Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson which bears this out. The Wilson bird dog incident contains all the elements needed to illustrate the anatomy of a campaign blunder. Secretary Wilson's contribution to political history occurred during the 1954 Congressional elections. Since the events are still fresh in many minds, they are useful for purposes of illustration. First of all, there was an utterance which was capable of being used by political foes. It made no difference if the remark was true or false, but it had to be of such nature as to support an inference of disrespect or insolence on the part of the speaker. That quality was inherent when Secretary Wilson discussed the problem of local unemployment and pressed his point home with a story about two dogs. Secondly, there was an exploiter. In Wilson's case it was Walter Reuther of the CIO, who acted as a catalyzer to produce a reaction for partisan political advantage. A telegram to President Eisenhower (Workers are now dogs . ..) demanded Wilson's resignation from the Cabinet or an apology. Thirdly, there was publicity. In this situation the press, radio, and television used their resources to focus national and international attention on Wilson's invidious remark and reactions to it. In the fourth place, if it appears that a blunder has been made, there is the problem of defense. Several Republican candidates for the United States Senate quickly expressed dissimilitude between themselves and

Seasonal Movements of Bobwhite Quail in Northwestern Oklahoma

ty. The present author selected 13 areas for study and census in northern Woodward County to obtain information among cover conditions other than those studied by Davison. In 1939-40, 1940-41, and 1941-42 censuses were made with bird dogs in September and again in January. The general relations of the principal cover types are shown in Figure 1. The mixedgrass upland in the northeast has extremely little winter food and cover, but affords somewhat favorable nesting conditions. These broad rolling prairies are deeply dissected by the drainage system of the Cimarron River in the north to form ravines which are heavily wooded and afford excellent winter protection for game. South of the upland is a broad band of sandy soils which thin out at the junction with the mixedgrass soils; their cover is of sandsage (Artemesia filifolia), and andropogon grasses, which furnish excellent summer range and, under moderate grazing, support good winter quail populations. Closely associated with the sandsage uplands is the dune-like condition which merges into the floodplain of the North Canadian River on the south. This is the best quail habitat in northwestern Oklahoma and generally supports high populations for hunting.

Setting reactions of bird dogs to turtles.

Setting reactions of bird dogs to turtles.