Hunting constrains wintering mallard response to habitat and environmental conditions

The spatiotemporal allocation of activity is fundamental to how organisms balance energetic intake and predation risk. Activity patterns fluctuate daily and seasonally, and they are proximately affected by exogenous and endogenous conditions. For birds, flight activity is often necessary for relocating between foraging patches but is energetically expensive and can increase mortality risk. Hunted species may have to adjust their behavior and activity patterns to minimize anthropogenic mortality risk. We used hourly locations from 336 GPS-marked mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) to examine how hunting pressure affected flight activity in response to weather conditions and habitat availability during winter in western Tennessee, USA. Mallards were more likely to fly during crepuscular times, particularly dusk, across winter months. Mallards conducted more flights after shooting hours when habitat availability increased during open hunting season; conversely, mallard flights decreased with inc..., We captured male and female mallards using swim-in traps, confusion traps, and rocket nets from November–January 2019–2022. We placed individually marked United States Geological Survey aluminum leg bands on all captured waterfowl. We also affixed solar rechargeable and remotely programmable, OrniTrack-20 Global Positioning System-Global System for Mobile (GPS-GSM) transmitters (Ornitela, UAB Švitrigailos, Vilnius, Lithuania) on mallards of all age and sex classes. We glued a 1.6-mm thick Cross-Linked Polyethylene Skin (Foam Factory, Macomb, Michigan, USA) to the GPS-GSM transmitters to help shed moisture from the area between the mallards’ skin and the bottom of the transmitter. We attached transmitters to mallards with dorsally-mounted body harnesses made of automotive moisture-wicking elastic ribbon (Conrad Jarvis, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA). Completed harnesses had two body loops knotted and sealed with cyanoacrylic glue, one above the bird’s keel and one across the abdomen. We t..., , # Data for: Hunting constrains wintering mallard response to habitat and environmental conditions.

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Title of Dataset: Data for: Hunting constrains wintering mallard response to habitat and environmental conditions.
2. Author Information:

Cory J. Highway, Department of Biology, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA

Abigail G. Blake-Bradshaw, School of Environmental Studies, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA

Nicholas M. Masto, School of Environmental Studies, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA

Allison C. Keever, Department of Biology, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA

Jamie C. Feddersen, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Nashville, TN 37211, USA

Heath M. Hagy, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bismarck, ND 58501, USA

Daniel L. Combs, Department of Biology, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN, 38505 USA

Bradley S. Cohen, Department of Bi...