Woodcock .-- Analyses of wings of wood- 

 cock sent to the Patuxent Wildlife Research 

 Center by hunters have provided data of 

 practical value in the management pro- 

 gram. Approximately 11,000 wings were 

 returned in the 1961 survey. The perfection 

 of a new technique based upon differences 

 in the pattern and color of certain second- 

 ary wing feathers permits age determina- 

 tion throughout the hunting season and until 

 the first annual molt. This technique re- 

 places the slower, previously used tech- 

 nique which involved microscopic examina- 

 tion of primary feathers and wa s not 

 reliable for late- shot woodcock from the 

 southern States where the birds winter. 

 The improved technique will increase the 

 speed and accuracy of age ratio measure- 

 ments, and provide a means of determining 

 the age of woodcock at the time of banding. 



Cranes . --Denver Center biologists con- 

 tinued surveillance of the whooping crane 

 remnant population and studied the effects 

 of hunting on sandhill cranes in the Texas- 

 New Mexico area. Experimentation in the 

 techniques for capturing, color-marking, 

 and artificial propagation of sandhill cranes 

 was initiated. If successful on these rela- 

 tively abundant cranes, the techniques may 

 be of use in bolstering populations of the 

 related, but rare, whooping crane. 



banded and 11,000 recovered; and Canada 

 geese with 172,000 banded and 37,000 re- 

 covered. Bands recovered and reported in 

 1961 totaled 39,104, or about 5 percent 

 above the number reported in I960. 



A communication from the USSR Academy 

 of Sciences reported that 766 young and 

 434 adult snow geese had been banded 

 during 1961 at Wrangel Island, USSR. 

 Seventy of these were subsequently shot in 

 Alaska, Oregon, California, and Nevada. 

 One sandhill crane banded at Bitter Lake 

 National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico, 

 one Laysan albatross and one black-footed 

 albatross banded at Midway Island in the 

 Pacific, and 16 snow geese banded at Tule 

 Lake and Sacramento National Wildlife 

 Refuges in California were reported as 

 having been recovered in Russia. Some of 

 the geese were retained for "maintenance 

 of Zoological Parks" in Russia. 



In April 1961, two communications from 

 the USSR transmitted information on the 

 recovery of 95 Fish and Wildlife Service 

 bands. Most of these recoveries were of 

 snow geese and pintails. A regular move- 

 ment of these two species between Siberia 

 and the North American Continent is in- 

 dicated. 



Bird banding . --Following a fire in the 

 Bird Banding Laboratory of the Patuxent 

 Wildlife Research Center in June 1959, 

 restoration of game bird bandings and re- 

 coveries was essentially completed by 

 December 1961, banding and recovery data 

 having been placed on punchcards and mag- 

 netic tape. A preliminary summary from 

 the tape has revealed that since banding 

 was first initiated, over 3 million ducks 

 and geese have been banded and over 

 400,000 of these have been recovered and 

 reported to the Banding Laboratory. Mal- 

 lards account for over one-third of the total 

 bandings and nearly one-half of the total 

 recoveries. Over 600,000 pintails have been 

 banded and 64,000 recovered. Other species 

 with large representation are the black 

 duck with 284,000 banded and 41,000 re- 

 covered; blue-winged teal with 233,000 



Upland Wildlife Ecology 



Much of the resident upland wildlife, in- 

 cluding game birds and man-imals, is pro- 

 duced on private land, and the management 

 responsibilities are primarily those of the 

 State Fish and Game Departments. However, 

 the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 

 assists in research on upland wildlife prob- 

 lems and, through cooperative agreement 

 and legislation, conducts wildlife studies 

 needed to provide wildlife information to 

 Federal land-managing agencies. 



During the past year, an evaluation of the 

 effects of forestry practices on wildlife 

 production in the Southeast was undertaken 



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