David L. Otis

We used controlled experiments to assess the preferences and food value of a selection of native and agricultural plant seeds for mourning doves (Zenaida macroura), northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), and brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater). Foods used in experiments were browntop millet, cracked corn, black-oil sunflower, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), deertongue (Panicum clandestinum), pokeberry (Phytolaca americana), and croton (Croton spp.). Browntop millet and black-oil sunflower were eaten significantly more than all other seeds. Cracked corn consumption was less than...

Previous work by LeMaster and Trost (1994) and Otis (1994) developed and evaluated statistical models for incorporating wood ducks (Aix sponsa) banded between 15 April and 30 June into band recovery analyses to estimate survival and recovery rates. In this study, we analyzed wood duck band recovery data from 1982-1992 in the proposed mid-Atlantic wood duck management unit and evaluated the impact of past early season banding on precision of the estimates. Based on statistics compiled from the wood duck nest box program in South Carolina, we then used computer simulation to evaluate...

In a survey to determine the extent of blackbird and mammal damage to ripening field corn in Kentucky and Tennessee, 268 0.5 ha plots in 23 Kentucky counties and 170 plots in 13 Tennessee counties were examined in the fall of 1977. Plots were randomly chosen so that counties with more corn had a greater chance of being surveyed. In Kentucky, blackbird damage to ripening corn averaged 0.48%, or approximately 609,000 bushels valued at $1,218,000 out of a total crop valued at $253,800,000. In Tennessee, blackbird damage averaged 0.39% or approximately 185,000 bushels valued at $380,000 out of...