During 2002-2003, we trapped and banded 1870 mourning doves (Zenaida macroura) in Hell Creek Wildlife Management Area located in northern Mississippi. Of these, we recovered 152 banded doves and recorded 845 live recaptures. We calculated apparent weekly survival using live recaptures model in Program MARK. Best model yielded adult survival estimates of >0.90 through week 13, then declined to 0.88 by week 15. Juvenile survival estimates followed a similar trend with >0.90 through week 13, then dropping to 0.85 by week 15. Annual survival rate of mourning doves in northern Mississippi was 0.32 (SE 0.07). Recapture probability of AHY doves was 0.014 (SE = 0.01 - 0.13); HY doves exhibited greater recapture probability, ranging from 0.04 (SE = 0.01) to 0.13 (SE = 0.01). We used simulations to examine the influence of number of releases and reporting rates on precision of mean survival estimates. Precision of estimates improved with increased number of releases and reporting rate.
