Weighting Procedure 
Kiel’s (1959) weighting procedure was used to compen- 
sate for differences in banding effort, land area, and breed- 
ing density: 
BDI x LAI 
Weight per recovery = a7 bo of doves bandad 
The weight per recovery for each age and sex group of doves 
was computed for doves banded in Missouri and recovered 
in Missouri, and for doves banded in other States and re- 
covered in Missouri. The numbers of doves banded in each 
State during the study period were obtained from the Bird 
Banding Laboratory, Office of Migratory Bird Manage- 
ment, Laurel, Maryland. 
Survival Rates 
Survival rates were estimated according to the method 
of Brownie et al. (1978). Even though a difference in sur- 
vival rates of adult males and adult females was detected, 
the data for adults were combined so an adult-immature 
survival rate comparison could be made. The program EsTI- 
MATE was used to estimate survival rates for adult males 
and females. Program BROWNIE was used to estimate sur- 
vival rates for immature mourning doves, 
Mortality Attributable to Hunting 
The method used to evaluate the influence of hunting 
on mortality rates was based on Geis (1972) as modified 
by Dunks (1977). In this method, recovery rates were ad- 
justed upward to compensate for banded doves shot but 
not reported, Tomlinson (1968) estimated the band report- 
ing rate, based on a reward-band study, in Missouri, at 
32%. Harvest rate was determined as follows: 
recovery rate 
Harvest rate = ' 
reporting rate 
Dunks (1977) adjusted the harvest rate to compensate for 
doves shot but not retrieved by the formula 
, harvest rate 
Kill rate = ————_ 
1 - crippling rate 
A 26% crippling loss was estimated for bag samples taken 
in several southern States from 1949 to 1955 (Southeastern 
Association of Game and Fish Commissioners 1957). The 
kill rate/mortality rate = portion of mortality due to hunt- 
ing. 
Productivity Needed to Maintain 
a Stable Population 
The productivity required to maintain a stable popula- 
tion was estimated by dividing the annual adult mortality 
rate by the corresponding immature survival rate (Orr 
1973). 
Statistical Test 
Throughout the paper 2 x 2 contingency tables were 
analyzed by chi square to determine significance at 
P = 0,05. 
Results 
Geographic Dispersal of 
Missouri-banded Doves 
From 1968 to 1976, 21,624 mourning doves (4,537 males, 
2,790 females, and 14,297 immatures) were banded at 20 
sites in Missouri (Fig, 2) during May—August. Of the 933 
recovered bands, 888 were reported as “shot.” 
To determine the dispersal of mourning doves from 
Missouri in the fall, direct recovery locations were plotted 
within the 1° area of recovery (Appendix Figs. A-1 through 
A-3). Direct recoveries of doves banded in Missouri but re- 
covered elsewhere were by no means confined to the Cen- 
tral Management Unit (Fig. 1). They were distributed as 
follows: Eastern Management Unit, 79 (50%); Central 
Unit, 55 (35 % ); Western Unit, 1 (<1%); Mexico and Cen- 
tral America, 23 (15%). Doves from all banding regions 
in Missouri moved southward from Missouri. The general 
movement of doves banded in central and western Missouri 
was south-southwest across Kansas and Oklahoma into 
Texas; a portion of the central and western Missouri doves 
moved into Louisiana, whereas others traveled into Mexico 
and Central America. A segment of the western Missouri 
population moved westward as evidenced by one direct and 
one indirect recovery reported in California. The general 
movement of doves banded in eastern Missouri was south- 
southeast into Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, 
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Several 
central Missouri birds also followed this southeastern path- 
way. 
The distributions of direct recoveries of adult male, adult 
female, immature, and all ages of mourning doves are pre- 
sented in Tables 1 and 2. The major recovery region for 
Missouri-banded doves was the State of Missouri, where 
over 75% of the recoveries occurred. The proportion of re- 
coveries in Missouri of adult doves (86 % ) was significantly 
higher than that of immatures (72%). The proportion of 
adult male recoveries occurring in Missouri was significantly 
higher than the proportion of adult female recoveries in 
Missouri (93 and 72%, respectively). 
Most recoveries were made in the Missouri region of 
banding. The proportion of recoveries occurring in the 
region of banding was higher for adult than immature doves 
(Table 1) and for adult male than adult female doves 
(Table 2). More than 94% of the direct recoveries of adult 
doves banded in central Missouri were recovered in Mis- 
souri. Eighty-six percent of eastern Missouri adult recoveries 
