Breeding-season survival of male and female mallards in Canada's Prairie-Parklands

Despite greater harvest rates of males, mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) populations exhibit male-biased sex ratios, presumably because females experience greater mortality during breeding seasons than do males. Nest success and adult female survival during the breeding season greatly impact mallard population growth; however, no study has evaluated breeding-season survival of males and females simultaneously using radiotelemetry. We captured, radiomarked, and monitored 90 male and 272 female mallards during 2 breeding seasons in the Prairie-Parkland region of Canada (Manitoba 1998, Saskatchewan 1999), Model-averaged estimates of female breeding season (i.e., 15 Apr-14 Jul) survival probabilities were 0.84 (SE=0.031) in 1998 and 0.71 (SE=0.040) in 1999. Estimated survival probabilities of paired males were 0.99 (SE=0.016) in 1998 and 0.98 (SE=0.025) in 1999; survival estimates for unpaired males were 0.92 (SE=0.052) in 1998 and 0.85 (SE=0.083) in 1999. Female mortality was greatest during periods of intensive nesting, whereas limited male mortalities precluded identification of attributes linked to mortality. Our results suggest that breeding-season survival of males has little impact on mallard population growth, and that management efforts to increase female survival rates offer greater potential to enhance mallard production.