Radley et al • LANDBIRD MOLT ON SAIPAN 
593 
Criteria presented to discriminate age class and 
gender serve as a baseline for assessing vital rates 
of the majority of avian species on Saipan. This 
improves our ability to guide targeted conserva¬ 
tion strategies, including species conservation 
introductions or translocations (IUCN 1987. 
1998) to establish self-sustaining, satellite popu¬ 
lations on islands in the Mariana Archipelago safe 
from the brown tree snake. DFW currently 
executes conservation measures for avian species 
m the Marianas with little or no baseline natural 
history information to guide decision making. The 
ability to accurately identify gender of individuals 
will help ensure even sex ratios during transloca¬ 
tion. increasing the long-term success of such 
efforts. Knowledge of which cover types promote 
the best overall survival, productivity, and re¬ 
cruitment in landbird populations on Saipan 
should enable us to better match species with 
suitable islands and increase the likelihood of 
success of translocation strategies in the Northern 
Mariana Islands. 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
Wc lhank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for funding 
fvia the State Wildlife and Wildlife Restoration Grants) 
necessary to establish and operate TMAPS on Saipan. Stall 
at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, California; 
Biigham-Young University at Hawaii, Laie. Hawaii; and B. 
P Bishop Museum, Honolulu. Hawaii assisted Pyle with 
specimen examination. Wc thank Sylvan lgisomar. Gayle 
Martin, and Laura Williams of CNM1-DFW for securing 
project funds; Julie Ducnas and Kathy Yuknavage of the 
CNM1 Coastal Resource Management Office for guidance 
w »h land ownership to assist in TMAPS station site 
’election; James Junda, Caroline Poli, Nathan Banfield, 
Lauren Helton, and Daniel Webb for collecting supplemental 
capture data; and Jim Saracco, David DeSantc, and Rodney 
Siegel of IBP for logistical and administrative support. Wc 
'hank C. E. Braun, E. A.VanderWcrf. und an anonymous 
reviewer for valuable suggestions and editing of this 
manuscript. This is contribution Number 401 ol The Institute 
for Bird Populations. 
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