MourningDoveCallcountSurvey

LIMITATIONS
Thesurveycoversmost,butnotall,ofthebreedingrange.Sincenoeffortispresentlymadetoestimatedetection
probabilityforobserversconductingthesurvey,itisnotpossibletoestimateabsoluteabundancefromthecounts
obtained.Whenanalyzingsurveydata,observerdatashouldbeusedasacovariableintrendestimationtoadjust
fordifferencesinobservers'abilitytohearmourningdoves.
Datacontainedhereinissummarizedattheroutelevelonly.Currently,welacktheabilitytoprovideuserswiththe
computerprogramsrequiredtoestimatetrendsfromsuchdata.Toestimatestateandregionaltrends,wecalculate
weightedaveragesfromindividualroutesforeachareaofinterest.Forexample,estimatesforeachstateare
weightedbythelandareaofphysiographicregionswithineachrespectivestate.Extrapolatingourestimatedtrend
statistic(%changeperyear)overtime(e.g.40years)mayexaggeratethetotalchangeovertime.
AdditionalinformationonestimatingpopulationtrendsandindicescanbefoundintheMourningDovePopulation
StatusreportlocatedontheDivisionofMigratoryBirdManagement'swebsite
(http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/reports/reports.html).
POINTOFCONTACT
BeckyRau
DataAdministrator,BranchofPopulation&HabitatAssessment
DivisionofMigratoryBirdManagement,USFWS
11510AmericanHollyDrive
Laurel,MD20708
voicemail:(301)4975862
fax:(301)4975871
rebecca_rau@fws.gov
LITERATURECITED
Dolton,D.D.1993.Thecallcountsurvey:historicdevelopmentandcurrentprocedures.Pages233
252inT.S.Baskett,M.W.Sayre,R.E.Tomlinson,andR.E.Mirarchi,eds.,Ecologyandmanagementofthemourning
dove.StackpoleBooks,Harrisburg,PA.
Fenneman,N.M.1931.PhysiographyofthewesternUnitedStates.McGrawHillBookCo.,NewYork,NY.534pp.
Foote,L.E.andH.S.Peters.1952.Pages12inInvestigationsofmethodsofappraisingtheabundanceof
mourningdoves.U.S.FishandWildlifeService,SpecialScientificReportWildlife17.
Kiel,W.H.1959.Mourningdovemanagementunits,aprogressreport.U.S.FishandWildlifeService,Special
ScientificReportWildlife42.
____.1961.Themourningdoveprogramforthefuture.TransactionsoftheNorthAmericanWildlifeandNatural
ResourcesConference26:418435.
McClure,H.E.1939.Cooingactivityandcensusingofthemourningdove.JournalofWildlifeManagement3:323
328.
PURPOSE
Themourningdove(Zenaidamacroura)isamigratorybird,thus,authorityandresponsibilityforitsmanagementis
vestedintheSecretaryoftheInterior.ThisresponsibilityisconferredbytheMigratoryBirdTreatyActof1918,
which,asamended,implementsmigratorybirdtreatiesbetweentheUnitedStatesandothercountries.Mourning
dovesareincludedinthetreatieswithGreatBritain(forCanada)andMexico.Thesetreatiesrecognizesporthunting
asalegitimateuseofarenewablemigratorybirdresource.Asoneofthemostabundantspeciesinbothurbanand
ruralareasofNorthAmerica,itisfamiliartomillionsofpeople.Maintenanceofmourningdovepopulationsina
healthy,productivestateisaprimarymanagementgoal.Tothisend,managementofdovesincludesassessmentof
populationstatus,regulationofharvest,andhabitatmanagement.Callcountsurveysareconductedannuallyinthe
48conterminousstatesbystateandfederalbiologiststomonitormourningdovepopulations.Theresulting
informationonstatusandtrendsisusedbywildlifeadministratorstosetannualhuntingregulations.

PROCEDURES
TheMourningDoveCallcountSurveywasdevelopedtoprovideanannualindextopopulationsize(Dolton1993).
ThissurveyisbasedonworkbyMcClure(1939)inIowa.Fieldstudiesdemonstratedthefeasibilityofthesurveyas
amethodfordetectingannualchangesinmourningdovebreedingpopulations(FooteandPeters1952).In
theUnitedStates,thesurveycurrentlyincludesmorethan1,000randomlyselectedroutes,stratifiedby
physiographicregion.Thetotalnumberofdovesheardoneachrouteisusedtodeterminetrendsinpopulationsand
providesthebasisfordetermininganindextopopulationsizeduringthebreedingseason.WithintheUnitedStates,
thereare3zonesthatcontainmourningdovepopulationsthatarelargelyindependentofeachother(Kiel1959).
Thesezonesencompasstheprincipalbreeding,migration,andU.S.winteringareasforeachpopulation.As
suggestedbyKiel(1959),these3areaswereestablishedasseparatemanagementunitsin1960(Kiel1961).Since
thattime,managementdecisionshavebeenmadewithintheboundariesoftheEastern(EMU),Central(CMU),and
Western(WMU)ManagementUnits.
Eachcallcountrouteisusuallylocatedonsecondaryroadsandhas20listeningstationsspacedat1mileintervals.
Ateachstop,thenumberofdovesheardcalling,thenumberseen,andthelevelofdisturbance(noise)thatimpairs
theobserver'sabilitytoheardovesarerecorded.Thenumberofdovesseenwhiledrivingbetweenstopsisalso
noted.Countsbeginonehalfhourbeforesunriseandcontinueforabout2hours.Routesarerunoncebetween20
Mayand5June.IntensivestudiesintheeasternUnitedStates(FooteandPeters1952)indicatedthatdovecalling
isrelativelystableduringthisperiod.Surveysarenotmadewhenwindvelocitiesexceed12milesperhourorwhen
itisraining.
Again,moredetailedinformationaboutsurveyproceduresoranalysesofthesedatacanbefoundintheannual
MourningDoveBreedingPopulationStatusreportontheDivisionofMigratoryBirdManagementwebsite
(http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/reports/reports.html).
DATABASES
AroutelevelcountsummarydatabasederivedfromtheMourningDoveCallCountSurveyismadeavailableonline
throughtheFWS/USGSMigratoryBirdDataCenter.
NotRunRoutes
Aroutewasnotruninaparticularyearifthefollowingfieldsaresimultaneouslyzerofilled:month,day,totalsn,
totalhrd,tlsnstop,tlsndriv.Missingdatainmultiplefieldsisalsoanindicator.Withintheobscodefield,'Not'
indicatesNotRun.
DOWNLOADABLEFIELDDEFINITIONS
FieldName
rtlocatn
year
stcode
routeno
obscode
county
physreg
date
sunrise
swind
fwind
stemp
ftemp
time1
time20
totalsn
totalhrd
tlsnstop
tlsndriv

FieldDefinition
Generaldescriptionofroutelocation
Theyearthesurveywasrun
NumericcodegiventoindividualstatesStatecodes
4digitnumericcodeidentifyingroute
Observercodethatenablesuserstoidentifychangesinrouteobservers
Nameofthecountythattherouteisin
3digitnumericcodebasedonFenneman'smap(Fenneman,
N.M.1931)featuringphysicaldivisionsoftheU.S.
Datethesurveywasconducted
Sunriseciviliantimeatbeginningofroute
Windspeed(Beaufortscale)atstartofsurvey
Windspeed(Beaufortscale)atendofsurvey
TemperatureFatstartofsurvey
TemperatureFatendofsurvey
Civiliantimerecordedatstop1beforelisteningtime
Civiliantimerecordedatstop20beforelisteningtime
Totaldovesseenwhiledrivingandstoppedstops121
Totaldovesheardstops120
Totaldovesseenstoppedstops120
Totaldovesseendrivingbetweenstops121