Data from: Survival and phenology of ducklings of Mallard, Domestic Duck and Gadwall in The Netherlands

Previous analysis of demographic parameters of the Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) population hinted at low duckling survival driving the decline, but no empirical data on duckling survival in the Netherlands were available. To address this knowledge gap, we initiated a citizen science project in 2016 to collect basic information about Mallard breeding biology and duckling survival. In the slipstream of this project, we also collected data for Domestic Duck (A. platyrhynchos forma domestica) and Gadwall (Mareca strepera) for comparison. Here we archive the research data underlying the analyses and graphs of the this publication in Limosa (2024, 97:49-61): "Survival and phenology of dablings of Mallard Anas platyrhynchos, Domestic Duck A. platyrhynchos forma domestica and Gadwall Mareca strepera in The Netherlands" (Dutch title: "Overleving en fenologie van kuikens van Wilde Eend, Soepeend en Krakeend in Nederland") by Erik Kleyheeg, Loes van den Bremer, Chris van Turnhout, Ties Maris, Eelke Jongejans & Niek van Rabenswaaij. The data file “waarnemingen 2016-2020 Limosa.csv” contains the following variables: year: Year of the study (2016 up to 2020) date: Date of observation time: Time of observation ID: Identifier of observation ID_family: Identifier of mallard family/brood (useful in case of successive observations) species: Species (dom = domestic duck/feral mallard, gad = gadwall, mal = mallard) N_chicks: Reported number of chicks age: Estimated age in weeks (1 = 0 to 1 week old, etc.) age_days: Estimated age in days observer: Anonymized observer remark: Remark latitude: Latitude of observation longitude: Longitude of observation surface: Whether ducklings were on land or water shore: Type of shoreline nearest to ducklings (emb = timbering/revetment, nhv = high vegetation, nlv = low vegetation, nno = no vegetation, oth = other) water: Water quality (cle = clear, tur = turbid, wee = covered with duckweed, oth = other) N_deaths: Number of ducklings observed perishing during the observation cause_deaths: Observed cause of death (agg = aggression, bre = grey heron, bui = buzzard, hon = dog, kat = cat, nijl = Egyptian goose, pre = predator unknown, sno = pike, zkr = carrion crown, zon = mammal unknown, oth = other) breadfeeding: Whether or not ducks are fed with bread regularly at the site of the observation