The management of North American waterfowl is predicated on long-term, continental-scale banding implemented prior to the hunting season (i.e., July–September) and subsequent reporting of bands recovered by hunters. However, single-season banding and encounter operations have a number of characteristics that limit their application to estimating demographic rates and evaluating hypothesized limiting factors throughout the annual cycle. We designed and implemented a two-season banding program for American Black Ducks (Anas rubripes), Mallards (A. platyrhynchos), and hybrids in eastern North America to evaluate potential application to annual life cycle conservation and sport harvest management. We assessed model fit and compared estimates of annual survival among data types (i.e., pre-hunting season only [July–September], post-hunting season only [January–March], and two-season [pre- and post-hunting season]) to evaluate model assumptions and potential application to population modeling and management. There was generally high agreement between estimates of annual survival derived using two-season and pre-season only data for all age and sex cohorts. Estimates of annual survival derived from post-season banding data only were consistently higher for adult females and juveniles of both sexes. We found patterns of seasonal survival varied by species, age, and to a lesser extent, sex. Hunter recovered birds exhibited similar spatial distributions regardless of banding season suggesting banded samples were from the same population. In contrast, goodness-of-fit tests suggest this assumption was statistically violated in some regions and years. We conclude that estimates of seasonal and annual survival for Black Ducks and Mallards based on the two-season banding program are valid and accurate based on model fit statistics, similarity in survival estimates across data and models, and similarities in the distribution of recoveries. The two-season program provides greater precision and insight into the survival process and will improve the ability of researchers and managers to test competing hypotheses regarding population regulation resulting in more effective management.

中文翻译：

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评估两季带计划以估计和模拟候鸟生存

北美水禽的管理基于在狩猎季节（即 7 月至 9 月）之前实施的长期、大陆规模的条带以及随后猎人发现的条带的报告。然而，单季带状和遭遇操作具有许多特征，这些特征限制了它们在整个年度周期内估计人口比例和评估假设的限制因素的应用。我们为美国黑鸭 ( Anas rubripes )、野鸭 ( A. platyrhynchos )设计并实施了一个两季的绑扎计划)，以及北美东部的杂交种，以评估其在年度生命周期保护和运动收获管理中的潜在应用。我们评估了模型拟合并比较了数据类型之间的年生存率估计值（即，仅狩猎季节前 [7 月至 9 月]、仅狩猎季节后 [1 月至 3 月] 和两个季节 [狩猎季节前后]) 评估模型假设和对人口建模和管理的潜在应用。使用所有年龄和性别队列的两个季节和季前数据得出的年度生存估计值之间普遍存在高度一致性。仅从季后带数据得出的年度存活率估计值始终高于成年雌性和两性青少年。我们发现季节性生存模式因物种、年龄以及在较小程度上的性别而异。无论带状季节如何，猎人恢复的鸟类都表现出相似的空间分布，这表明带状样本来自同一种群。相比之下，拟合优度检验表明，在某些地区和年份，这一假设在统计上被违反了。我们得出结论，根据模型拟合统计、数据和模型之间生存估计的相似性以及回收率分布的相似性，基于两季条带计划的黑鸭和野鸭的季节性和年度生存估计是有效和准确的。这个为期两季的计划提供了对生存过程的更高精确度和洞察力，并将提高研究人员和管理人员测试有关人口调节的相互竞争假设的能力，从而实现更有效的管理。