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Spring migration is an energetically demanding event that can impact nutrient dynamics of individuals during the breeding season through carry-over effects. Limited food availability at spring stopover areas may have cross-seasonal effects that adversely impact waterfowl populations. We collected 161 Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca Linnaeus, 1758; hereafter Teal) throughout the Illinois River Valley, USA, during February--April of 2016-2018 and estimated body condition using three condition indices (scaled mass index, scaled wing index, body-size index) for comparison with carcass lipid and protein values. Lipids were 18.3% (95% CI = 1.0%-38.5%) and 21.6% (95% CI = 4.8%-41.0%) greater at locations with moderate (250-600 kg/ha) and high (>600 kg/ha) moist-soil seed densities, respectively, than low moist-seed density ( Key words: Anas crecca, Green-winged Teal, body condition, food availability, Illinois, proximate analysis, spring migration. La migration printaniere est un evenement exigeant du point de vue energetique qui peut avoir une incidence sur la dynamique des nutriments des individus durant la periode de reproduction, par l'entremise d'effets reportes. Une faible disponibilite de nourriture dans les aires de repos printanieres pourrait avoir des effets inter-saisonniers qui ont une incidence negative sur les populations de sauvagine. Nous avons preleve 161 sarcelles d'hiver (Anas crecca Linnaeus, 1758; ci-apres [much less than] sarcelle [much greater than]) a la grandeur de la vallee de la riviere Illinois (Etats-Unis) de fevrier a avril 2016 a 2018 et estime leur embonpoint en utilisant trois indices d'embonpoint (indice de masse mise a l'echelle, indice des ailes mises a l'echelle et indice de taille du corps) a des fins de comparaison avec les contenus en lipides et en proteines des carcasses. Les contenus en lipides etaient 18,3% (IC 95 % = 1,0 % -38,5 %) et 21,6% (IC 95 % = 4,8 % - 41,0 %) plus grands dans les endroits caracterises par des densites de graines dans le sol humide moderees (250-600 kg/ha) et elevees (>600 kg/ha), respectivement, que dans les sites de faible densite ( Mots-cles : Anas crecca, sarcelle d'hiver, embonpoint, disponibilite de nourriture, Illinois, analyse immediate, migration printaniere., Introduction Migration is a critical period for long-distance migratory birds due to energetic demands of flight, courtship, pair bonding, and nutrient deposition coinciding with extreme environmental stochasticity and probable food [...]

Public lands managed for wildlife frequently provide various forms of sanctuary to increase residency times and allow access to energetic and other habitat resources for waterfowl. The influence of sanctuary type and disturbance regime on resource use and fine-scale movements of waterfowl has not been investigated extensively using currently available transmitter technologies. We examined mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) use of various types of waterfowl sanctuary and non-sanctuary areas in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley region of eastern Arkansas, USA, during winters of 2019-2021. We deployed 105 global positioning system transmitters on mallards at 4 closed-access spatial sanctuaries on or adjacent to Dale Bumpers White River National Wildlife Refuge.We used hourly transmitter locations to examine mallard use of public sanctuary areas, public hunt areas, and private lands using integrated step selection analysis. Public sanctuary areas provided varying levels of protected status, public hunt areas allowed for varying levels of hunting intensity by duck hunters, and private lands were open to waterfowl hunting and other forms of private uses but may or may not have been hunted at any specific frequency. Mallards selected spatial sanctuary and avoided public hunt areas, other sanctuary types, and private lands during the day. In contrast, mallards selected for private lands over spatial sanctuary at night. Mallards tended to avoid areas that allowed duck hunting or used them during the night when risk of harvest mortality was removed. After the hunting season closed, mallards began using areas that previously allowed duck hunting during the day, suggesting that risk was the primary factor influencing site use. Moreover, mallards were 1.6 times more likely to use public daily hunt areas and 2.1 times more likely to use private lands potentially open to hunting during the day than spatial sanctuary 2 weeks after the close of duck hunting season in February. Spatial sanctuaries appear more effective in influencing mallard use than temporal sanctuaries or inviolate sanctuaries, which are commonly used by state and federal agencies. Partial daily, daily, or activity-specific (e.g., no hunting past noon, no hunting 3 days/week, no waterfowl hunting) closures to encourage mallard use of temporal sanctuaries do not appear to reduce the perceived harvest-related risk to mallards enough for them to view these areas as accessible or significantly increase their use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changing agricultural practices and wetland loss have resulted in the decline in abundance of King Rail (Rallus elegans) populations throughout the southeastern United States, including within the historical breeding range of the Mississippi Alluvial Valley region in eastern Arkansas. Despite a recent increase in coordinated efforts to improve monitoring program for secretive marsh birds and to track trends in population status of the King Rail, successful observations of reproduction by the species are rare throughout much of the historical breeding range. During a field visit and birding trip on 15 June 2018, we obtained photographic documentation of adult and juvenile King Rails in an emergent marsh impoundment on the Freddie Black Choctaw Island Wildlife Management Area Deer Research West Unit in Desha County, Arkansas (eBird Checklist S46788433). This emergent marsh wetland is a product of intensive wetland restoration through the Wetland Reserve Program. This is the first documented observation of King Rail reproduction in Arkansas since 2006. This observation provides a tribute to the Wetland Reserve Program and demonstrates the impacts wetland restoration can have on species of greatest conservation concern. Lastly, the observation is a tribute to the active management program of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission aimed to maintain important emergent marsh wetland habitat conditions for migratory waterbirds during the breeding season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Midcontinent populations of arctic nesting geese (hereafter, arctic geese), including greater white-fronted geese Anser albifrons frontalis, lesser snow geese Anser caerulescens caerulescens, and Ross's geese Anser rossii, have increased in abundance and shifted their winter distribution in recent decades. Consequently, the number of arctic geese wintering in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) has increased since the 1980s. Stored endogenous nutrients are critically important to the life cycle of arctic geese as the geese use these stored nutrients to complete long-distance migration events, survive harsh winters, and supplement nutrients needed for reproduction. This study tracked temporal changes in body condition of arctic geese during the wintering period. We collected arctic geese from October–February 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 in eastern Arkansas. We used proximate analysis to determine size of lipid and protein stores as an index of body condition. Protein stores were more stable through time than lipids, but we observed a slight increase in all species as winter progressed. Mean lipid stores were dynamic and were highest in November and lowest in February. Greater white-fronted geese arrived earliest to the MAV and experienced an increase in endogenous lipid stores during early winter when high-energy food resources were most abundant. Conversely, snow and Ross's geese arrived to the MAV later and did not appear to increase their lipid stores upon arrival. All three species experienced a decline in stored lipid mass as winter progressed; a combination of factors such as resource depletion, a shift in dietary needs, physiological factors, hunting pressure, and increased energetic demands may have driven the decline. An improved understanding of the role that "nontraditional" wintering grounds exert on the nutrient dynamics of arctic geese may aid in the management of growing and shifting populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waterfowl are housed in captivity for research studies that are infeasible in the wild. Accommodating the unique requirements of semi-aquatic species in captivity while meeting experimental design criteria for research questions can be challenging and may have unknown effects on animal health. Thus, testing and standardizing best husbandry and care practices for waterfowl is necessary to facilitate proper husbandry and humane care while ensuring reliable and repeatable research results. To inform husbandry practices for captive-reared and wild-caught lesser scaup ( Aythya affinis ; hereafter, scaup), we assessed body mass and fat composition across two different aspects of husbandry, source population (captive-reared or wild caught), and housing densities (birds/m 2 ). Our results suggest that housing scaup at low densities (≤0.6 m 2 /bird, P  = 0.049) relative to other species can minimize negative health effects. Captive-reared scaup were heavier ( P  = 0.027) with greater body fat ( P  < 0.001) and exhibited fewer signs of stress during handling than wild-caught scaup. In our experience, scaup which are captive-reared from eggs collected in the wild were better for long-term captivity studies as they maintained body mass between and recovered lost body mass following trials. Researchers would benefit from carefully evaluating the tradeoffs of using short- and long-term captive methods on their research question before designing projects, husbandry practices, and housing facilities for waterfowl., Competing Interests: We have no conflicts of interest to declare., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science.)