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John T. Lokemoen

Publications and source records attributed to John T. Lokemoen.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2000

Cowbird parasitism in grassland and cropland in the northern Great Plains

The landscape of the Great Plains has been greatly altered by human activities in the past century, and several grassland passerines have experienced significant population declines in recent decades. We explore here whether brood parasitism by Brown-headed Cowbirds, which are abundant in the Great Plains, has contributed to these declines. We measured the frequency of cowbird parasitism of passerine species in seeded grassland, natural grassland, and cropland in studies conducted in North Dakota during 1981-1993. The proportions of parasitized nests were 25%, 34%, and 39% in seeded grassland, natural grassland, and cropland, respectively. We speculate that much of the variation in parasitism rate among these habitats is related to the local abundance of cowbirds, to nest visibility, and to the presence of suitable perches for female cowbirds. Local abundance of cowbirds may be high in areas with cattle pastures. Nests and nesting behavior are probably more visible to female cowbirds in cropland than in grassland. Female cowbirds may use shrubs as perches while searching for host nests, and shrubs are more common in natural grasslands than in the other habitats we examined. Experimental work on the determinants of cowbird abundance in grasslands is needed.

Book chapter↗
USGS1993

Effects of harness transmitters on behavior and reproduction of wild mallards

Radio telemetry has been an important research tool in waterfowl studies for >20 years, yet little effort has been made to evaluate potential effects of transmitters on the birds that carry them. As part of a 4-year mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) study in the prairie pothole region of North Dakota and Minnesota, we compared radio-marked and unmarked female mallards in terms of percent time observed feeding, resting, and preening; nest initiation date; and clutch size and egg volume. Radio-marked females carried a 23-g back-mounted transmitter attached with a 2-loop harness (Dwyer 1972). On average, radio-marked females tended to feed less, rest and preen more, initiate nests later, and lay smaller clutches and eggs than unmarked females. Thus, behavioral and reproductive data from ducks marked with back-mounted harness-attached transmitters may be biased. We recommend that new designs of radio packages be field tested and caution that effects may be masked under extreme environmental conditions.

Journal of Wildlife Management↗
USGS1990

Weights of wild mallard Anas platyrhynchos, gadwall A. strepera, and blue-winged teal A. discors during the breeding season

During 1976-81 we weighed several thousands of wild Mallard, Gadwall, and Blue-winged Teal in central North Dakota to examine duckling growth patterns, adult weights, and the factors influencing them. One-day-old Mallard and Gadwall averaged 32.4 and 30.4 g, respectively, a reduction of 34% and 29% from fresh egg weights. In all three species, the logistic growth curve provided a good fit for duckling growth patterns. Except for the asymptote, there was no difference in growth curves between males and females of a species. Mallard and Gadwall ducklings were heavier in years when wetland area was extensive or had increased from the previous year. Weights of after-second-year females were greater than yearlings for Mallard but not for Gadwall or Blue-winged Teal. Adult Mallard females lost weight continuously from late March to early July. Gadwall and Blue-winged Teal females, which nest later than Mallard, gained weight after spring arrival, lost weight from the onset of nesting until early July, and then regained some weight. Females of all species captured on nests were lighter than those captured off nests at the same time. Male Mallard weights decreased from spring arrival until late May. Male Gadwall and Blue-winged Teal weights increased after spring arrival, then declined until early June. Males of all three species then gained weight until the end of June. Among adults, female Gadwall and male Mallard and Blue-winged Teal were heavier in years when wetland area had increased from the previous year; female Blue-winged Teal were heavier in years with more wetland area.

Wildfowl↗
USGS1990

Homing and reproductive habits of mallards, gadwalls, and blue-winged teal

We studied mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos ), gadwall ( A. strepera ), and blue-winged teal ( A. discors ) populations on 2 study areas of 22.6-km 2 each in central North Dakota during 1976-81. Data regarding rates of return of females to natal or previously used nesting areas, nest site selection, and productivity of hens of different ages were collected from 1,166 nasal-marked and 2,142 banded hens of the 3 species and from 740 web-tagged mallard and gadwall young. In spring, yearling mallard and gadwall hens arrived at the breeding site later than older hens. Yearling gadwall hens initiated nesting about 1 week later than 2-year-old hens, and 2-year-old hens began nesting about 1 week later than hens older than 2 years. Gadwall hens older than 2 years also had a longer nesting season. Mallard and gadwall nest densities were highest in those cover types with the highest visual obstruction ratings. Cover preference in descending order of use was seeded nesting cover, odd areas, roadside, dry wetland, and canal-side. Blue-winged teal nest densities were highest in dry wetland and roadside. Nesting success was different among years, but not among cover types. There was no population increase at any cover type due to homing hens. Overall nesting success was 11, 10, and 23% for mallards, gadwalls, and blue-winged teal, respectively. Recruitment of fledged young was similar for yearling and adult mallard females. Production from yearling gadwall hens was a meager 0.2 young fledged/female. Clutch size was not different between yearling and adult mallard and blue-winged teal hens, but clutch size for all 3 species declined as the nesting season advanced. More ≥1-year-mallard hens and ≥2-year-old gadwall hens that nested successfully 1 year returned to the study areas the following year than did unsuccessful hens. Gadwall hen return rates also increased with age. Blue-winged teal hen return rates averaged 4% and were not related to hen success or hen age. Mallard and gadwall hens that nested successfully 1 year used the same cover type the next year. Successful returning mallard hens also nested closer to the previous nest site than unsuccessful hens. Twenty-nine percent of hatching year (HY) mallard females returned to the study area, and all of these returned as yearlings (second summer). Nine percent of HY gadwalls returned, approximately half as yearlings and the remainder as 2 year olds. Duckling survival from hatching until near fledging was 0.681 for mallards and 0.828 for gadwalls. An overall direct band recovery rate of 8% for HY mallard hens was not different than that of older hens. Gadwall direct band recovery rates decreased through the HY (11%), yearling (5%), and >2-year (1%) age classes.

North Dakota↗
USGS1987

A decoy trap for breeding-season mallards in North Dakota

A modified decoy trap was effective for capturing wild adult male and female mallards ( Anas platyrhynchos ) during the 1980-81 breeding seasons in North Dakota. Key features contributing to the trap's success included a central decoy cylinder, large capture compartments with spring-door openings, an adjustable trigger mechanism with a balanced door attachment that was resistant to trap movement, and the use of F1, wild-stock or game-farm female decoys.

North Dakota↗
USGS1984

Nest spacing, habitat selection, and behavior of waterfowl on Miller Lake Island, North Dakota

The nesting behavior of a concentration of nesting mallards ( Anas platyrhynchos ) and gadwalls ( A. strepera ) was studied on a 4.5-ha island in Miller Lake, North Dakota, in 1977. A single 0.59-ha clump of thick shrub contained 225 simultaneously active mallard nests on 10 May. During the peak nesting period, mallard nests were spaced an average of 2.7 m from conspecifics. Active nests of all species peaked at 327, spaced an average of 2.1 m apart. Nests were clustered in thick shrub with moderate numbers in open shrub and few in grassland. Nest placement was significantly related to the amount of vegetative screening although mammalian predators were absent on the island. Cover density appeared to be important to the nesting hens as vegetation screened nests from potential avian predators and from harassment by other conspecific nesting hens and drakes. Mallards and gadwalls nesting on this island used wetlands in >100 km2 around Miller Lake. During daylight hours in late April 1978, an average of 4.9 mallards/minute arrived at the island; a peak of 17.2 mallards/minute arrived at 0800. In late April 1978, as many as 26 mallard pairs/ha occurred on favored wetlands and behavioral aggression was intense. Yet, most mallard hens maintained adequate space to acquire food and other requisites. Mallards and gadwalls were sufficiently adaptable to successfully exploit the Miller Lake island and environments that resulted in high reproductive success. Other local breeding Anatidae because of behavioral constraints were unable to exploit the same situation.

North Dakota↗
USGS1983

Concentrated nesting of mallards and gadwalls on Miller Lake Island, North Dakota

Island-nesting mallards ( Anas platyrhynchos ) and gadwalls ( A. strepera ) were studied on a 4.5-ha island in 385-ha Miller Lake in northwestern North Dakota during 1976-80. During the 5-year study, 2,561 duck nests of 9 species were found on Island A located 180 m offshore; 59% were mallard and 34% were gadwall. In patches of shrub cover, which contained the greatest concentrations of nests, densities ranged from 241 to 389 mallard nests/ha and from 139 to 237 gadwall nests/ha. Over 97% of the nests were placed in 4 patches of shrubs totaling about 1 ha of western snowberry ( Symphoricarpos occidentalis )--Woods rose ( Rosa woodsii ) cover, which composed about 30% of the island's vegetation. Average hatching success was 85% for clutches of all species. Abandonment averaged 14% (348 of 2,426 nests) and was the major cause of egg failure. Only 15 nests (<1%) were destroyed, primarily by ring-billed ( Larus delawarensis ) or California gulls ( L. californicus ). A minimum of 15,960 ducklings including 9,300 mallards and 5,150 gadwalls hatched on 4.5-ha Island A. Hatching rates of eggs in successful nests averaged 83% for mallards and 87% for gadwalls. Despite the close spacing of nests, most individual hens maintained normal nesting regimes. Eighty-one percent of the mallard clutches contained 7-13 eggs and 81% of the gadwall clutches contained 8-14 eggs. Island A in Miller Lake provides an outstanding example of the potential for high reproduction levels of mallards and gadwalls nesting in small areas of predator-free habitats.

North Dakota↗
USGS1980

High duck nesting success in a predator-reduced environment

Duck nesting and production were studied during 1969-74 on a 51-ha field of undisturbed grass-legume cover and a surrounding 8.13-km 2 area in north-central South Dakota. The principal mammalian predators of ducks were reduced within a 259-km 2 zone from May 1969 through August 1971. Dabbling duck nest densities, hatching success, and breeding populations attained high levels. Seven duck species produced 1,062 nests on the 51-ha field during 6 years, 864 (81%) hatched, 146 (14%) were destroyed, and 52 (5%) had other fates. During 1970-72, when predator reduction was most effective, the hatching success for 756 nests was 94%. The number of mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos ) nests increased from 37 (0.7/ha) in 1969 to 181 (3.5/ha) in 1972. Mallard pairs increased from 2.8/km 2 to 16.8/km 2 on the 8.13-km 2 area during the same period. A minimum of 7,250 ducklings hatched on the 51-ha field during the 6 years, including 2,342 ducklings in 1972. Exceptionally high duck nesting densities and hatching rates occurred when predators were controlled.

South Dakota↗