Banding Effort

Banding began on Slipps Marsh in 2006. Between 2006 and 2019 we’ve ran the airboat for 11 banding seasons and banding a total of 2027 ducks or an average of 184 ducks per season (Fig. 1).

Figure 1. Number of ducks banded at Slipps Marsh

Figure 1. Number of ducks banded at Slipps Marsh

Species Compostion

We encounter 15 species of ducks in Slipps Marsh. The dominant species caught in the marsh were Black Ducks followed by Wood Ducks, Green-wing Teals and Mallards. Captures dropped between 2011 and 2014, and again from 2016 to 2014. The reductions in captures resuted from the loss of Black Ducks, Wood Ducks and Mallards from the marsh, and Green-wing Teal now dominate the captures (Fig. 2.). Note, species with less than 10 total captures were dropped from the figure.

Figure 2. Species Composition of ducks capture onf Slipps Marsh

Figure 2. Species Composition of ducks capture onf Slipps Marsh

Band Recoveries.

Of the 2027 ducks banded at Slipps there have been a total of 385 recoveries reported to the Banding Office. About half of the recoveries for Black Ducks, Mallards and Blue-wing Teal occur within 100 km of Slipps Marsh (Fig. 3), and the remainder occur within the Atlantic and Mississippi Flyways as far south as Louisiana (Fig. 4).

Figure 3. Distribution of distances between banding and recovery (km)

Figure 3. Distribution of distances between banding and recovery (km)

Figure 4. Distribution of band recoveries from Slipps Marsh

Figure 4. Distribution of band recoveries from Slipps Marsh

Appendix 1: Number of ducks banded at Slipps Marsh by species and year.

2006 2007 2009 2010 2011 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
ABDU 105 171 70 73 166 71 35 46 0 0 25
ABDX 0 0 0 0 7 3 1 0 0 0 0
AGWT 30 27 22 23 20 29 70 71 9 36 44
AMWI 6 10 1 4 2 6 0 0 0 0 0
BWTE 6 8 7 27 5 2 26 0 2 1 6
GADW 2 4 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 0
MALL 33 67 28 47 53 26 19 31 1 2 15
MALX 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
MBDH 5 15 8 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MBDX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
NOPI 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2
NSHO 0 5 0 1 1 1 9 1 0 0 2
RNDU 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
WODU 51 83 47 68 53 12 4 24 1 1 14
Sum 238 391 184 251 311 151 164 174 13 41 108

Appendix 2: Species codes

species_code species
AGWT American Greenwing Teal
BWTE Blue Wing Teal
WODU Wood Duck
GADW Gadwall
AMWI American Wigeon
ABDU American Black Duck
MALL Mallard
MBDH Mallard-Black Duck Hybrid
NSHO Northern Shoveler
RNDU Ring-neck Duck
NOPI Northern Pintail
ABDX Black Duck-like Hybrid
MALX Mallard-like Hybrid
MBDX Mallard Black Duck Hybrid