Zenaida Macroura Research Articles

Predicting Hunting Success from Call Counts of Mourning and White-Winged Doves

Predicting Hunting Success from Call Counts of Mourning and White-Winged Doves

Mourning Dove Nesting on Tobosa Grass-Mesquite Rangeland Sprayed with Herbicides and Burned

Highlight: A 2-year study of the effects herbicide spraying, and particularly, prescribed burning might have on mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) nesting ecology in rangelands infested with mesquite revealed that the loss of trees as nesting sites was compensated by the occurrence of gound nesting. Newly burned areas fostered better utilization (i.e., higher nesting densities) than did older burns except under drought conditions. Ground nests did not suffer from excessive predation, and differences in the productivity of ground nests probably were related to nesting density rather than to the apparent suitability of the site. Ground nests were more successful than tree nests.

Age and Sex Selectivity of Trapping Procedures for Mourning Doves

During June through August 1963-69, 3,645 mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) were captured in baited Thompson 2-celled traps along roadsides and in fields in north-central Missouri. Roadside traps were placed singly about 400 m apart; field traps were in clusters of 12-25, about 1.8-6 m apart. Adults comprised 80.8 percent of the catch in roadside traps vs. 34.3 percent in field traps. Differences by month were significant (P < 0.05), by year highly significant (P < 0.01). Among the adults, males comprised 70.7 percent of the catch in roadside traps vs. 60.9 percent in field traps. Differences by month and year were highly significant (P < 0.01). Trapping techniques must be considered carefully if inferences about age and sex composition of dove populations are to be drawn from capture data, or if investigators wish to concentrate banding efforts on a specific age or sex group of mourning doves. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 40(1):122-125 This paper illustrates the effects of altering certain bait trapping procedures, particularly trap location, on the age and sex composition of the catch of mourning doves in baited traps during late spring and sum-

The chronic toxicity of methiocarb to grackles, doves, and quail and reproductive effect in quail.

Methiocarb (4-methylthio-3, 5-xylyl N-methyl carbamate, Mesurol, Bay (3744), a bird repellent, was fed in concentrations of 100 to 1,000 ppm to common grackles (Quiscalus quiscula), mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), and breeding pairs of coturnix quail (Coturnix coturnix) to investigate the possibility of cumulative intoxication. Although aversion to treated diets was readily apparent in most of the tests, the 28- to 30-day median lethal concentration (LC50) was determined to be greater than 100 ppm for grackles, 630 ppm (95% confidence limits, 480-830 ppm) for doves, and greater than 1,000 ppm for coturnix quail. Methiocarb appeared to be noncumulative when measured by an index of chronicity: birds consumed several LD50 doses during a day's feeding, and when deaths occurred, they appeared to be due to acute intoxication. Egg production and live chick production were not affected in coturnix fed 100 ppm but were reduced at 316 and 1,000 ppm.

Hemoprotozoa in mourning doves and other small birds of western Oklahoma.

Blood smears obtained from 370 birds live-trapped in western Oklahoma were examined for hemoprotozoa. Haemoproteus spp. were found in 189 (90.4%) mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), one oriole (Icterus galbula), two mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos), and three brown thrashers (Toxostoma rufum). Plasmodium sp. was present in one brown thrasher. Haemoproteus spp. in the mourning dove were identified as H. sacharovi and H. maccallumi, with the latter species predominating. The average parasitemia for doves infected only with H. sacharovi was 0.1% of the erythrocytes, for doves infected only with H. maccallumi it was 0.9%, and in doves with dual infections 1.8% of the erythrocytes were infected.

Prevalence and potential vectors of Haemoproteus in Nebraska mouring doves.

Three hundred and nine mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) from Lancaster County, Nebraska, were examined for species of Haemoproteus. Older doves possessed higher Haemoproteus prevalences than younger doves. Mean total prevalence for each dove age group was as follows: adults, 61% H. sacharovi and 83% H. maccallumi; immatures, 35% H. sacharovi and 42% H. maccallumi; and nestlings, 31% H. sacharovi and 16% H. maccallumi. Yearly prevalences were less variable in mature doves than in immature and nestling doves. No correlation between nestling and parent Haemoproteus infections were observed, but nestmates in 10 or 18 nests harbored equivalent infections. Stilbometopa podopostyla and Microlynchia pusilla (Hippoboscidae) were collected from Nebraska doves. Hippoboscidae were collected from doves of all ages from April to August. Dove baited fly traps yielded Culex tarsalis and C. pipiens in Nebraska and Culicoides haematopotus, C. crepuscularis, and Simulium aureaum in Ames, Iowa.

Some Winter and Nesting Season Foods of the Common Raven in Virginia

LITTLE is known of the ecology of the Common Raven (Corvus corax) population that inhabits the narrow belt of mountains from north Georgia to northern Pennsylvania. This disjunct group is a remnant of a previously larger, contiguous population (A.O.U. 1957). To our knowledge, only one account of the food habits of this isolated population has been published. Murray (1949) reported the animal remains found below two cliff nests in Rockbridge County, Virginia. Included were the bones of flying squirrels (Glaucomys volans), gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), a Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus), a Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), a Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata), a Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus), a snake, and remains of grasshoppers. Reports from other regions indicate that Common Ravens rely heavily on carrion (Ratcliffe 1962, White and Cade 1971, Dorn 1972). Some students believe the raven has considerable potential as a predator (Craighead and Craighead 1956: 339; White and Cade 1971; Dorn 1972). That ravens frequent garbage dumps is well-known (Bent 1946: 227-262). Our objectives of the research were to determine the food habits of Common Ravens in Virginia during two critical periods of the yearwinter and the nesting season. Of particular interest were (1) the importance of prey as a food source, (2) possible economic implications of their food habits, and (3) the importance of garbage dumps as a food source. The study was made possible by the discovery of a nocturnal winter raven roost and the relocation of the apparent nonbreeding segment of the roost following the dispersal of the winter roost at the beginning of the nesting season. A concurrent study of nesting habitat made possible a search of 20 active nest sites for castings. The research was conducted in the Ridge and Valley Physiographic Province of Virginia, a region of parallel ridges that rise 1000 to 2000 feet above the intervening valleys. The ridges are covered by oak forests (Braun 1967) while the valleys are interspersed forest and pastures. The numerous cliffs and remote woodlands have provided a refuge for the species at a time when its numbers were being reduced throughout the eastern United States.

The Ecology of the Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata) in Argentina

In South America, south of Trinidad and other islands in the southern Caribbean, the familiar Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) of North America is replaced by the Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata) also known as Torcaza, Mediana, or Paloma dorada; three distinctive but intergrading races have been described. The Eared Dove is very similar to the Mourning Dove in color and pattern but differs primarily in having a shorter, less graduated tail, heavier bill, more brownish coloration, and more distinctly yellow-bronze display plumage on the neck; these two doves comprise a super-species. There are numerous published references to the Mourning Dove but very little has been recorded about the biology of its southern congener. Comparative studies of closely related species are of interest for they often reveal features not readily seen in isolation. The Eared Dove also poses an economic problem for it has prospered with the development of intensive arable farming and thrives on corn and sorghum crops, the latter eaten from the standing crop from November until March. In addition, some farmers have almost stopped growing millet because the birds take the ripe crop. This is true of wheat also, but to a lesser extent. In its relationship with agriculture, the Eared Dove can be compared with certain Old World pigeons, particularly the Wood Pigeon ( Columba palumbus), while its capacity to form enormous flocks for breeding and feeding is reminiscent of the extinct Passenger Pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) of the eastern United States and the Red-billed Dioch (Quelea quelea) an African weaver finch. The natural habitat of Z. auriculata is mostly arid and semiarid scrubland, usually with some trees or patches of woodland, but it avoids the tropical forest areas. Its niche is similar to that occupied by the collared doves of the Old World [the Vinaceous Dove (Streptopelia vinacea), the Mourning Dove (S. decipiens), and the Pink-headed Dove (S. roseogrisea) of Africa; the Collard Dove (S. decaocto) of India and since 1930 of northwest Europe and Britain; and the Turtle Dove (S. bitorquata) of Java]. All these doves are ground feeders that eat small weed seeds. In South America Z. auriculata was found in th thornscrub Chaco region of Argentina and Para uay, which originally was a mosaic of woodland and grassland maintained as a stable, climax community by periodic fires (Odum 1969; Morello 1970). Although very common in this favored pulsatile ecosystem, the species never formed the enormous flocks w ich are still typical of the more xeric caat nga region of Brazil (fig. 1). There the enormous flocks of Eared Doves are nomadic, ranging over very large areas in search of the seeds of wild grass and other plants, in a mann r reminiscent of the Flock Pigeon (Phaps histrionica) of the Australian desert and the African Weaver Finch. Sandwiched between the coastal and Amazonian rain forests is a corridor of savannas known as the Cerrado, which extends from the Chaco to the Caatinga, t roughout which the Eared Dove is common (fig. 1). In Argentina, the Pampas region was, until the end of the 19th century, covered with native grasslands with practically no trees. The Eared Dove was a common, albeit not characteristic, bird of the region for many migrated in large flocks from the Chaco to feed on thistle seeds which were abundant

A localized epizootic of trichomoniasis in mourning doves.

Trichomonas gallinae was present in 47% (57/121) of adult, 41% (7/17) of juvenile, and 29% (2/7) of nestling mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) from Lincoln, Nebraska. Throat lesions were present in 5.9% (43/724) of the mourning doves trapped for banding. Two of four pigeons (Columba livia) possessed T. gallinae, but none contained throat lesions.

New Records of Mourning Doves in Southcentral and Interior Alaska

Journal Article New Records of Mourning Doves in Southcentral and Interior Alaska Get access Robert B. Weeden, Robert B. Weeden Department of Wildlife and Fisheries University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska 99701 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Loyal Johnson Loyal Johnson Alaska Department of Fish and Game P.O. Box 499 Sitkn, Alaska 99835 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Condor, Volume 75, Issue 3, 1 July 1973, Page 353, https://doi.org/10.2307/1366183 Published: 01 July 1973 Article history Accepted: 11 August 1972 Published: 01 July 1973

Hematozoa from New Mexico Mourning Doves

Hematozoa from New Mexico Mourning Doves

The Nasal Mites of Birds from Louisiana. VI. New and Additional Records of Dermanyssids (Rhinonyssinae) with Description of a New Species

A new species and new host and geographic records are established for rhinonyssine nasal mites from Louisiana birds. Ptilonyssus bombycillae sp. n. is described from Bombycilla cedrorum. The new species differs from others of the genus by a combination of characters including an almost straight posterior margin of the podosomal plate, 6 pairs of small blunt-tipped dorsal opisthosomal setae, entire pygidial plate, and all 3 anal setae posterior to the anal opening. Also, a new host record is established for Sternostoma hirundinis Fain from B. cedrorum. New geographic records include Rhinoecius cooremani Strandtmann from Strix varia and Tinaminyssus zenaidurae (Crossley) comb. n. from Zenaidura macroura. The systematics and host relationships of these species are briefly discussed. Continuing studies on the nasal mites of Louisiana birds have revealed a new species, Ptilonyssus bombycillae from Bombycilla cedrorum, and a new host and geographic records for several other rhinonyssine species. The materials and methods, including the designations and abbreviations used in the following description, have been outlined previously (Pence, 1972a). Genus Tinaminyssus Strandtmann and Wharton Strandtmann and Wharton, 1958, Contrib. Inst. Acar. Univ. Md. 4: 161. Synonymy: See Domrow, 1969. Tinaminyssus zenaidurae (Crossley) comb. n. Neonyssus zenaidurae Crossley, 1952, J. Parasit. 38: 386. Mesonyssus zenaidurae (Crossley) Fain and Aitken, 1967, Bull. Inst. Roy. Soc. Nat. Belg. 43: 39. Additional host record: 1 9 from Zenaidura macroura, mourning dove, Bonnet Carre Floodway, Norco, La., 13 October 1971, D.B.P.

Territorial Basking Counts to Estimate Alligator Populations

Counts of territorial basking American alligators (Alligator mtssissippiensis) employing the Petersen Index principle of mark and wcapture were tested on four national wildlife refuges from 1969 to 1971. Individual alligators were marked on their basking sites by animal length, site description, vehicle odometer reading, and flagging tape without the necessity of physically trapping, marking, or recapturing specimens. Some alligators were painted to ascertain stability of basking territories, to serve as a known population, and as another way to estimate the sample population. Counts were conducted during the first 7 to 10 days of the first sustained spring wann front. The high recovery rate of marked alligators will achieve precision within 20 percent of the mean estimate (95 percent confidence) when 30 or more alligators are counted in the sample area. Accurate estimates can also be made of size (age) classes. Failure of an observer to see alligators, a small population in a sample unit, and recognition of the proper warm front are the main problems that may be encountered in using this counting technique. The American alligator has been classified by the U. S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife (1968) as an endangered species. The inclusion of the alligator in the Bureau's Redbook has stimulated pressures for more effective regulatory legislation, has intensified research projects, and has promoted management actions. Excessive and illegal harvests, accompanied by loss of habitat, have been blamed for the reduction of wild populations. Only on intensively protected and managed areas, such as state and federal wildlife refuges, have wild populations been maintained in substantial numbers. In addition to their obvious commercial values, alligators have values ranging from an essential part of many ecosystems to a nuisance in conflict with management of other wildlife species. Population information is essential to determine the current status for the Redbook, for the management of alligators in critical ecosystems, and to support appropriate legislative actions. Chabreck (1967) described a number of techniques used to inventory alligators. The methods included night counting, call and nest counts, and the mark-recapture of tagged animals. The objective of the present study was to develop an inexpensive inventory procedure that would yield a fairly precise and reasonably accurate estimate of a sample population in a variety of habitats. BASKING TERRITORIALITY AS A BASIS FOR CENSUSING ALLIGATORS A number of techniques have been developed to inventory wildlife species that depend upon stability of territories as the basis to identify and enumerate individuals, pairs, or groups of animals. Territory mapping of bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) is described by Mosby and Overton (1950) and Rosene (1957); roadside census of small birds, by Howell (1951); cottontail rabbits ( Sylvilagus floridanus ), by Kline ( 1965 ); and red-winged blackbirds ( Agelaills phoeniceus ), by Hewitt ( 1967 ); calls of mourning doves ( Zenaidura macroura), by McClure (1939) and calls of American woodcock ( Philohela minor ), by Kozicky et al. ( 1954 ); drumming of ruffed grouse ( Bonasa umbellus ), by Dorney et al. ( 1958 ); and analytical

A Repellent for Protecting Corn Seed from Blackbirds and Crows

Methiocarb [4-(methylthio)-3,-5-xylyl N-methylcarbamate] was tested as a seed treatment for repelling blackbirds and crows (Corsus sp.) from sprouting corn in South Carolina. The test was conducted on eight fields within a 0.25-square-mile area. Marked repellency occurred; sprout damage averaged 44 percent in the control fields and 0.3 percent in the fields treated with methiocarb. 50 percent of the birds tested ) was 1.0 mg/kg for red-winged blackbirds ( Agelatus phoeniceus ) . In a later report ( E. W. Schafer 1971, unpublished report, Denver Wildlife Research Center), the acute oral LD50 was given as 4.6 mg/kg for redwings, 10 mg/kg for common grackles (Quisculus qu1rscula ), 24 mg/kg for bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus), 10 mg/kg for mourning doves (Zenaidura macroura), and 56.2 mg/kg for pheasants. Our report describes a test of methiocarb as a bird repellent on planted corn seed. The test was made in the spring of 1969 under conditions of heavy pressure by redwings, common grackles, and crows. Since sprout damage by these species is particularly prevalent in areas along the eastern seaboard wherever corn is grown next to water, these tests were conducted at Santee National Wildlife Refuge in South Carolina. Here corn is grown adjacent to the Santee-Cooper reservoir, and the damage is severe at times. The chemical methiocarb (DRC-736) was provided by Chemagro Corporation, Kansas City, Missouri. The use of trade names does not imply endorsement of commercial products by the

Effects of Colored Backgrounds on Food Selection by Penned Mourning Doves (Zenaidura macroura)

MOURNING Doves (Zenaidura macroura) and other columbiform birds often react strongly to artificial color stimuli. Bennett (1939) found that a male Ringed Turtle Dove (Streptopelia risoria) removed from a pen, bleached white and returned to the pen, elicited aberrant behavior by its seven pen mates, and affected the social order of the birds. Kalmbach (1943) and Kalmbach and Welch (1946) noted that several species of birds including domestic pigeons (Columba livia) selected against grains colored bright yellow and green, when offered other choices. Frankel and Baskett (1963) found that yellow marks placed on the heads of penned female Mourning Doves disrupted poorly established pair bonds. Goforth and Baskett (1965) performed more elaborate experiments, also showing that yellow marks on the females' heads affected pair bonding adversely under certain conditions. No measurable responses by Mourning Doves to artificial color were discerned by McClure (1945) who colored eggs of incubating pairs, nor by Mackey (1965), who applied orange paint to the mandibles of one mated pair and red to those of another. Color vision in the Mourning Dove has had little study, but color vision in the closely related domestic pigeon has been investigated extensively. Results of several such studies were reviewed by Blough (1957), who indicated that the pigeon's ability to discriminate hue is similar to that of man. The purpose of the present study was to explore the influence of backgrounds that differ in color on selection of food by penned Mourning Doves. The study was an outgrowth of our earlier investigations of color marking in relation to breeding behavior, and was prompted by the seeming aversion of male doves to yellow marks placed on females' heads. It was also prompted by reports that visual cues play little or no role in food selection in Mourning Doves under field conditions (Davison, 1962; Davison and Sullivan, 1963).

Mourning Dove Production in a Kansas Osage Orange Planting

A mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura) production study was conducted during the 1962 nesting season in an osage orange (Maclura pomifera) planting in Ellis County, Kansas. Altogether 389 nests built by an estimated 92 pairs of doves were followed to termination between May 2 and September 11. Of these, 166 nests (43 percent) were lost to predators, storms, or abandonment. Two hundred and forty-two (32 percent) of the 766 eggs laid and 114 (22 percent) of 524 nestling doves were lost during the nesting season. Four hundred and ten nestlings were fledged, averaging 4.5 young per pair. The greatest number of active nests found at any one time was 92, a density of 17.3/acre. The fall dove hunting season resulted in the cessation of nesting activity. Doves were still in the process of nest building and incubation when the season began, but no new nests were started after this time and many active nests were deserted. In the spring of 1961, I found a high density of mourning doves nesting in a 10- acre planting of osage orange trees estab- lished under the timber culture act of 1873, 5 miles north and 2 mile west of Hays, Ellis County, Kansas. AREA DESCRIPTION

Determination of glycogen in small tissue samples.

Determination of glycogen in small tissue samples.

Toxicity of Zectran® Insecticide to Several Wildlife Species

Zectran® (4-dimethylamino-3,5-xylyl methycarbamate), all insecticide proposed for control of spruce budworm, Choristoneura fumiferana (Clemens), was tested against 16 species of pen-reared or captivity-acclimated animals to determine its toxicity and potential hazard to wildlife. The acute oral LD60 values in mg/kg were: lesser sandhill crane, Grus canadensis canadensis L.., 1.0-4.5; Canada goose, Branta canadensis L.., 2.64; mourning dove, Zenaidura macroura L.., 2.83; mallard duck, Anas platyrhyndura L.., 3.0; coturnix quail, Coturnix coturnix japonica (Teminck & Schlep get), 3.21; mallard duckling 4.2; ring-necked pheasant, Phasianus colchicus L.., 4.5; house finch, Garpodacus mexicanus (Muller), 4.76; chukar partridge, Alectoris graeca (Meisner), 5.24; domestic pigeon, Columba livia (Gmelin), 6.47; sharp-tailed grouse, Pedioecetes phasianellus L.., 10.0; albino Sprague-Dawley rat , Rattus noruegicis (Fischer), 14.1; domestic goat, Capra aegagnzs L., 15.0-30.0; mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus (Rafinesque), 20.0-30.0; house (English) sparrow, Passer domesticus 1.., 50.4; and bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana (Shaw), 283.0-800.0. In general, birds were more susceptible to single oral doses than mammals and reacted more quickly to intoxication and were more quickly affected. In both groups, the first easily recognized symptom of Zectran poisoning was an increase in the respiratory rate. Deaths appeared to occur from respiratory failure following tachypnea and Cheyne-Stokes respiration. Zectran did not show any marked cumulative effect in subacute oral tests with mallards, chukars, and mule deer. The animals were able to tolerate up to about 40% of a single oral LD50 dose per day for 30 days, and there was some evidence of a low degree of acquired resistance. Zectran applied dermally to albino New Zealand rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus (Lilljeborg), at 2000 mg/kg produced no discernible effects. The reproduction of chukars surviving repeated daily doses of Zectran was similar to that of controls. Low application rates, rapid degradation, low dermal toxicity, and the low degree of cumulative toxic action indicate that little hazard to wildlife should result under field conditions, even though Zectran is highly toxic in acute oral tests.

Breeding Birds in a Florida Suburb

A study of bird populations in the residential suburbs of St. Petersburg and Gulfport, Pinellas County, Florida based on observations made in three study plots totaling 100.5 acres during portions of two years, 1968 and 1964. The dominant vegetation is described in detail. Part I includes our estimates of the total number of breeding pairs for each plot, which varied from 200 pairs per 100 acres in new residential suburbs to 500 and 600 pairs per 100 acres in mature suburbs. Of the 11 species that breed in the three plots, four, the House Sparrow, Mourning Dove, Blue Jay, and Mockingbird, were the most abundant and accounted for more than 90 per cent of the total. House Sparrows alone comprised about 50 per cent of all breeding birds. Only four species not found in the quadrats, two of which are introduced, breed in similar habitats in the county. When natural areas are replaced by suburbs a marked change in avian species composition occurs, and, with the eventual maturing of the suburbs, breeding populations increase in pairs per hundred acres from an estimated maximum of 200 pairs to 500 or 600 pairs. Part I also discusses the birds breeding in peripheral habitats, total breeding populations for the two cities, non-breeding birds, and predators. Part II deals with the breeding biology of several of the more common breeders, excluding the House Sparrow, based on almost 900 nest records. A discussion of currently existing methods for measuring nesting success is followed by an explanation of a new method which may prove useful in certain other studies. By this method a calculated number of hypothetical unfound failures are added to the sample of known nests to compensate for nests found after incubation or egg laying has begun. Using our method we found that nest success was approximately 40 per cent for Mourning Doves breeding in pine-dominated suburbs and 20 per cent for those breeding in oak-dominated suburbs. Based on the same method nest success for Mockingbirds was about 52 per cent in the two habitats combined. A method of expressing nest-site preference based on the relative abundance of plants and the distribution of nests is proposed also. Additional information on phenology of nesting, clutch size, and nest location is given in the species accounts. Information is especially extensive for the Mourning Dove where 625 nestings were analyzed.

Lead Shot Ingestion by Mourning Doves and Incidence in Soil

Biologists in Tennessee collected 1,949 gizzards from doves harvested on fields managed for public hunting. One percent of the doves had ingested between 1 and 24 lead shot. Preand posthunt soil samples were collected from a field with a history of 8 years of managed public dove shooting. In the top % inch of soil there were 10,890 shot per acre before the September 1 and 2 hunt. The posthunt sample indicated 43,560 shot per acre in the top 3/% inch. For four decades wildlife managers have known that lead poisoning is an important cause of annual mortality to waterfowl. These losses continue to be a management problem (Bellrose 1959, Mississippi Flyway Council 1965, Bagley et al. 1967). Recent cases of lead poisoning in game birds have stimulated interest in spent lead shot as a cause of wildlife mortalities. Locke and Bagley (1967:515) reviewed literature reporting lead poisoning in bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), mourning doves (Zenaidura macroura), and scaled quail (Callipepla squamata). Ingested lead shot was found in bobwhite gizzards being examined for food habits studies in Alabama (C. A. McConnell, personal communication) and Texas (C. J. Barstow, personal communication). Locke and Bagley (1967) also reported the capture of an emaciated immature mourning dove whose gizzard contained two lead shot. The tibia and liver of this bird showed concentrations of lead of 187 ppm and 72 ppm respectively. These authors examined 62 gizzards from hunter-killed doves and in four found 1-3 ingested lead shot. They also found the lead content of 40 dove livers to range from 0.4-14.0 ppm (wet weight). Bagley and Locke (1967), 1 Present address: Oklahoma Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, Stillwater. 476 studying the concentrations of lead in normal liver tissue of birds, reported a range of 0.4-7.0 ppm for mourning doves. McConnell (1967) studied experimental lead poisoning of quail and mourning doves. Ten percent of the quail and 32 percent of the doves died after being fed lead shot. Some doves died after ingesting between 5 and 35 shot. Others survived when fed as many as 20 lead shot. The increasing popularity of dove hunting and increased public and private dove field management are resulting in concentrations of spent shot which might cause substantial lead poisoning losses of upland game birds. McCartney (1964:185) surveyed the 31 states having an open season on mourning doves. Of these, 18 reported they had dove field management programs of some kind. As Crider (1965:57) pointed out, Since the inclusion, in 1960, of 'normal agricultural plantings' in the hunting methods permitted for migratory birds, public dove hunting programs have rapidly expanded. In 1962, a single large field near Miami, Florida, provided 11,289 doves for approximately 2,400 hunters. Most fields managed by the Florida Game and Fish Commission contain between 125-500 acres. Tennessee has been managing fields for public dove hunting since 1959. These fields are located on wildlife management This content downloaded from 207.46.13.120 on Wed, 14 Sep 2016 05:11:32 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms LEAD SHOT IN MOURNING DOVES * Lewis and Legler 477 areas, often waterfowl areas, adjacent to reservoirs where equipment and personnel are already available to carry out the agricultural operations. The same fields are often hunted year after year, resulting in a buildup in deposits of spent shot, defined as shotgun-fired pellets which fall to the ground after losing their momentum. Brakhage (1966) found up to 122,839 shot per acre in the top 2 inches of soil around shooting blinds at the Duck Creek Wildlife Area in Missouri. Bellrose (1959) reported on a series of nationwide studies of lead shot accumulation on waterfowl hunting areas. The square-foot samples taken in the various studies ranged from 1/2 to 10 inches deep. Accurate comparisons cannot be made but shot accumulations on 24 areas ranged from 0 to 118,048 per