Survey dataset of wintering waterfowl use of marsh terraces and non-terraced sites in the northern Gulf of Mexico from 2018-10-11 to 2020-03-05

The dataset includes all field data collected on wintering waterfowl use of marsh terraces and accompanying non-terraced sites (e.g., coastal marsh). Wintering waterfowl data was collected via aerial surveys from a fixed-winged aircraft in partnership with Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Cruise-style aerial surveys were flown approximately twice monthly in the fall/winter seasons of 2018-2019 and 2019-2020. A total of 21 paired sites were surveyed using a two-observer protocol to avoid duplicating waterfowl counts. All sites were surveyed at the same spatial scale to avoid sampling bias due to unequal study area sizes.