Landbird Breeding and Fall Migration Banding at Mother Goose Lake, Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, June-September 1996
Dewhurst DA, Wells LA, Moore H. 1996. Landbird Breeding and Fall Migration Banding at Mother Goose Lake, Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, June-September 1996. US Fish and Wildlife Service. King Salmon, AK
For the third consecutive year, landbirds were studied at Mother Goose Lake on the Alaska Peninsula/Becharof NWRC. The status of breeding and migrating landbirds was examined using constant-effort mist netting, with results contributing to the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) Program and statewide migration monitoring efforts. Color banding was initiated this year on AHY (after hatching-year) birds captured during MAPS. A total of 3849 landbirds of 25 species were banded during the breeding season and fall migration. Breeding and fall migration densities of Wilson's warblers (Wilsonia pusilla) continue to be the highest among the landbird species captured at Mother Goose Lake in 1996. Due to increases in several species other than Wilson's warblers, fall migration topped previous banding totals by 519 birds. The peak of fall migration was on 13 August with 371 birds banded in 78 net hrs (475.6 birds captured/100 net hrs). Despite these high migration capture rates, area productivity appeared to decline during 1996, likely paralleling a similar decline in Wilson's warbler productivity. Thirty-seven birds returned to Mother Goose Lake from 1994, while 89 birds returned from 1995. Ninety-four percent of all returns were originally banded as AHY birds.