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Migratory Birds and State Program Alaska

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The Pacific Flyway Winter Brant Survey (WBS) has been conducted annually since 1981 as part of a cooperative effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian Wildlife Service, Mexico, and the Pacific U.S. states, to estimate the abundance of the Pacific black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) in their principal wintering areas along the Pacific Coast (in Baja, Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska). The survey is conducted each winter in January-February by a composite of ground and aerial crews, with the Alaska portion being conducted by the Alaska Region of USFWS Migratory Bird Management. The primary objective of the Alaska survey component is to provide an annual index of...
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Broad scale banding of midcontinent greater white-fronted geese (MCWFG) is motivated by the Flyway Management Plan objective to maintain optimum harvest opportunity throughout the population range (Central, Mississippi, and Pacific Flyway Councils, 2023). This objective is accomplished by implementing a harvest strategy whereby changes to bag limits and season dates are dependent upon thresholds of abundance and harvest rate. Such estimates are calculated through Lincoln estimation (Lincoln 1930, Alisauskas et al. 2009, Dooley 2023) that requires annual banding. In addition, banding provides a means to identify changes in harvest distribution. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Migratory Bird Management...
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The Pacific Flyway Winter Brant Survey (WBS) has been conducted annually since 1981 as part of a cooperative effort by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Canadian Wildlife Service, Mexico, and the Pacific U.S. states, to estimate the abundance of the Pacific black brant (Branta bernicla nigricans) in their principal wintering areas along the Pacific Coast (in Baja, Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska). The survey is conducted each winter in January-February by a composite of ground and aerial crews, with the Alaska portion being conducted by the Alaska Region of USFWS Migratory Bird Management. The primary objective of the Alaska survey component is to provide an annual index of...
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Alaska Mallard Banding, Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge
Duck banding data is integral to the Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM) process that uses both band recovery data and aerial breeding population survey data to establish hunting regulatory packages each year. Mallard banding in Alaska is one component of the process to set hunting regulations for ducks in the Pacific Flyway by providing harvest rate estimates for the Western Mallard AHM model (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2021). Harvest rate is used in coordination with breeding population size estimates from the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey to determine the optimal regulatory strategy (liberal, moderate, restrictive, or closed) for dabbling ducks in the Pacific Flyway. Each regulatory alternative...
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Duck banding data is integral to the Adaptive Harvest Management (AHM) process that uses both band recovery data and aerial breeding population survey data to establish hunting regulatory packages each year. Mallard banding in Alaska is one component of the process to set hunting regulations for ducks in the Pacific Flyway by providing harvest rate estimates for the Western Mallard AHM model (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2021). Harvest rate is used in coordination with breeding population size estimates from the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey to determine the optimal regulatory strategy (liberal, moderate, restrictive, or closed) for dabbling ducks in the Pacific Flyway. Each regulatory alternative...
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