Larry J. Hindman

Monitoring Habitat Use by Male Mute Swans in the Chesapeake Bay

We tracked male mute swans (Cygnus olor) (n = 2) in 2002 and in 2003 (n = 3) using Global Positioning System (GPS) in a 217,500-ha area of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. We quantified habitat use among four habitat categories (submerged aquatic vegetation, open water, shoreline, and upland) and between diurnal and nocturnal periods. Swans did not use habitats in proportion to their availability; they consistently used upland less often than what was available within their home ranges. Most use occurred within submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) and open water, which typically were the most...

Harvest and Band Recovery of Captive-reared Mallards Released by the State of Maryland, 1974-1987

Maryland Department of Natural Resources personnel banded 52,193 captive-reared mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) released in Maryland from 1974— 1987. Although most recoveries (91%) occurred in Maryland, ducks that survived a single hunting season, particularly males, were more likely to be recovered outside the state. Most recoveries (79%) of state-released mallards occurred during the first hunting season after release and nearly all (>99%) occurred within 5 hunting seasons. About 16% of the ducklings (Frost, environmental-conditioned ducklings, >6 weeks old) released were...