UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1145 



Washington, D. C. V May 10, 1923 



MIGRATION RECORDS FROM WILD DUCKS AND OTHER BIRDS BANDED 

 IN THE SALT LAKE VALLEY, UTAH. 



By Alexander Wetmore, Assistant Biologist, Division of Biological 

 Investigations, Bureau of Biological Survey. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



Migration and occurrence records 3 



Mallard 4 



Gadwall 5 



Green-winged teal 6 



Cinnamon teal 



Shoveler, or spoonbill- 

 Pintail 



Redhead 



Other birds 



INTRODUCTION. 



The Bear River marshes at the north end of Great Salt Lt .-, Utah 

 (PL I, Fig. 1), a region highly attractive to wild ducks a d other 

 waterfowl, are known as one of the great centers where such birds 

 gather in the West, so that information regarding the migratory 

 movements of the large numbers of birds that visit this region is of 

 interest and importance. In the period from 1914 to 1916, the writer, 

 while engaged in the study of an alkali poisoning prevalent among 

 waterfowl in the Salt Lake marshes, had opportunity to band and 

 release a considerable number of ducks and other birds (PL I, Fig. 

 2), a fair proportion of which were killed subsequently in oth"' 

 regions. 



Reports already published 1 have dealt with the so-called duck 

 sickness, and have detailed methods by which a considerable number 

 of the birds affected were cured. Before such individuals were set 

 at liberty each was marked with a numbered band, and record made 



1 Reports made on the author's investigations of the duck sickness in Utah are con- 

 tained in bulletins of the United States Department of Agriculture as follows : No. 217, 

 Mortality among Waterfowl around Great Salt Lake, Utah (Preliminary Report), 10 p., 

 3 pis., 1915 ; and No. 672, The Duck Sickness in Utah, 25 p., 4 pis., 1918. Other reports 

 based in part on investigations then made are contained in Bulletin No. 793, Lead 

 Poisoning in Waterfowl, 12 p., 2 pis., 1919 ; and No. 936, Wild Ducks and Duck Foods 

 of the Bear River Marshes, Utah, 20 p., 4 pis., 1921. 



Note. — This bulletin is a report on a study of the migratory movements of waterfowl 

 and other birds, based on banding operations carried on in Utah from 1914 to 1916. It 

 is for the information of sportsmen, ornithologists, and others interested in bird migra- 

 tion and the protection of game birds. 



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