This census is based on the number of doves heard 

 cooing at 20 stops of 3 minutes each and 1 mile 

 apart along permanent routes in each Slate. 

 Analysis and interpretation of data is done by 

 the Migratory Bird Populations Station. 



Since the census is made before, production of 

 young has been completed, much effort has been 

 given to the development of techniques that will 

 yield data on age composition of the dove popula- 

 tion in the fall. Attention has been focused on 

 wing collections, which have worked successfully 

 for other migratory game birds. Studies to date 

 indicate that September-shot cloves, when repre- 

 senting a sufficiently high portion of the total 

 hunting season collection, can be used to measure 

 the age composition of the kill. 



As a means of assessing the importance of hunt- 

 ing in mourning-dove mortality, the Bureau has 

 initiated a program of preseason and postseason 

 dove banding. Emphasis will be on a comparison 

 of recovery rates from birds banded before, and 

 after the hunting season, thus estimating hunting- 

 season loss. The program is expected to run for 

 3 years. 



Analysis of dove-banding data has permitted 

 refinements in relating production areas to harv- 

 est areas. Statistical tests indicate that recovery 

 patterns of doves banded as adults are different 

 from those of birds banded as immatures; data for 

 young and adults are now treated separately. 

 Similar tests indicate that direct recovery patterns 

 of all age groups differ from indirect recovery 

 patterns, except for adult males; therefore, except 

 for adult males, only direct recoveries are used. 



Mourning dove studied in Arizona. — The 

 mourning dove is one of Arizona's most important 

 game birds; the State is important as both a nest- 

 ing and a wintering area. During the last 2 years 

 the Arizona Unit has attempted to develop better 

 methods of determining the annual production, 

 and has also studied the percentage, of doves killed 

 in Arizona but hatched outside the State. Dur- 

 ing the 2-year period 2,221 mourning doves were 

 trapped and banded. The coo count or call count 

 has been used to measure the number of breeding 

 pairs in specific areas. Emphasis in the study was 

 on refinement and improvement of this technique. 



Dove production in north-central Colorado. — In 

 the four primary habitat types used by mourning 

 doves in north-central Colorado, a quantitative 

 measure of productivity was determined in 1962- 

 63 by the Colorado Unit. The four types, each 



The extensive mourning dove banding program of the 

 Bureau and many State cooperators will result in clearer 

 definition of migration routes, longevity, and population 

 dynamics, knowledge of which is necessary to sound man- 

 agement. The banding of nestlings has proved to be 

 relatively rapid and economical. (Photo by Oklahoma 

 Wildlife Conservation Department) 



represented by a typical sample of 150 acres, were 

 (1) urban (Fort Collins, Colo.), (2) foothills 

 brushland, (3) irrigated farmland, and (4) short- 

 grass high prairie. 



The urban type showed by far the highest pro- 

 ductivity during the 2 years of study. Compara- 

 tive production figures per 150 acres are given in 

 the following tabulation. 



AVERAGE ANNUAL DOVE PRODUCTION IN MAJOR 

 HABITAT TYPES OF NORTH-CENTRAL COLORADO 



The urban type, during the 2-year period of 

 1062-63, was about 8.7 times more productive than 

 the foothills type, 22 times more so than the farm- 

 land type, and 28 times more, so than the short- 

 grass prairie type. The far larger area contained 

 in the nonurban types gives these three habitats 

 greater significance than indicated in the tabula- 

 tion. 



Mourning dove color sensitive. — Research at the 

 Missouri Unit on the effects of head-marking 

 penned mourning doves provided elaborations of 

 previously published information on this subject. 

 Removal of the female and eggs or squabs from 

 the pen always broke the pair bond, and caused 

 the males' rate of perch cooing to increase as much 

 as fifteenfold. 



734-563 O— 64- 



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