Ducks, hunters and rainfall at two sites in southern inland New South Wales

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 759 ◽  
Author(s):  
SV Briggs ◽  
JG Brickhill ◽  
RT Kingsford ◽  
PF Hodgson
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Black Duck ◽  
Major Species ◽  
Local Rainfall

Duck hunters have been surveyed on the opening morning of duck seasons since 1972 at Lake Cowal and Barrenbox Swamp in southern inland New South Wales. Mean numbers of ducks shot per hunter on opening morning reflected the numbers of ducks at the sites two to three weeks previously. At Barrenbox Swamp, but not at Lake Cowal, mean bag sizes were inversely related to recent local rainfall. Mean bag sizes on opening morning at Lake Cowal and Barrenbox Swamp did not diminish following reduction of the opening-day bag limit from 20 to 10 ducks per day in 1988. Generally, numbers of ducks and mean bag sizes at Lake Cowal and Barrenbox Swamp have not declined or increased since 1972 (exceptions are increased numbers but decreased bag sizes of Pacific black duck at Barrenbox Swamp, and increased bag sizes of maned duck at Lake Cowal). At neither hunting site were numbers of ducks related to mean bag sizes in the previous year. In summary, hunting does not appear to be adversely affecting numbers of major species of game ducks at either Lake Cowal or Barrenbox Swamp.

An Aerial Survey of 3 Game Species of Waterfowl (Family Anatidae) Populations in Eastern Australia

1986 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
LW Braithwaite ◽  
M Maher ◽  
SV Briggs ◽  
BS Parker
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waters ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Aerial Survey ◽  
Game Species ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Black Duck ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Central Eastern

Populations of waterfowl of three game species, the Pacific black duck Anus superciliosa, grey teal A. gibberifrons, and maned duck Chenonetta jubata, were assessed by aerial survey in October 1983 within a survey region of 2 697 000 km2 of eastern Australia. The numbers of each species were assessed on all surface waters of over 1 ha, and on a sample of smaller surface waters within 10 survey bands each 30 km wide and spaced at intervals of 2� latitude from 20�30' to 38�30'S. The area within the survey bands was 324 120 km2, which gave a sampling intensity of 12.0% of the land surface area. The area of features shown as wetlands or water impoundments within the survey bands on 1 : 2 500 000 topographic maps was 19 200 km2 or 11.2% of the total area of these features in the survey region. The area of surface waters surveyed was assessed at 465 300 ha. Assessments of populations of each species were tallied for wetlands by grid cells of 6 min of 1� longitude along the survey bands (258-309 km2 depending on latitude). Distributions were then mapped, with log*10 indices of populations in each cell. Distributions of the black duck and grey teal showed a pattern of intense aggregation in limited numbers of cells, that of the maned duck was more evenly distributed. The major concentrations of the Pacific black duck were recorded in northern New South Wales and the south-eastern, western, central eastern and central coastal regions of Queensland; those of the grey teal were in south-western, western and northern New South Wales and central-eastern Queensland; the maned duck was broadly distributed over inland New South Wales with the exception of the far west, inland southern Queensland, and central northern Victoria.

Food of the Black Duck and Grey Teal in Coastal Northern New South Wales.

1979 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 319 ◽  
Author(s):  
GN Goodrick
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Flood Plain ◽  
Gut Contents ◽  
Terrestrial Invertebrates ◽  
Food Items ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Water Beetle ◽  
Black Duck ◽  
Maize Grain

The study area of 500 km2 was humid and subtropical, on flood plain near Coraki, New South Wales. Gut contents were examined and the percentage by volume of different food items is tabulated for black duck (Anas superciliosa) and grey teal (A. gibberifrons). Black duck fed on flooded meadow-grass flats in autumn, moving when the flats dried to seasonal swamps, and when those also dried, to lagoons. Diet varied with place. Seeds of grasses, swamp plants and lagoon plants were eaten, with water snails and water beetle adults and larvae, water spiders and ostracods, and terrestrial invertebrates being eaten when the dry flats became flooded. They ate also waste maize grain from harvested fields before ploughing. Grey teal fed in the seasonal swamps in winter and then left the area almost completely; they ate almost the same items as black duck but fed by the muddy edges of seasonal swamps more than the black duck did. It was known that black duck strip seed from the growing plant and grey teal pick up the fallen seed.

Bag Sizes of Waterfowl in New-South-Wales and Their Relation to Antecedent Rainfall

1988 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 459 ◽  
Author(s):  
SV Briggs ◽  
JE Holmes
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Annual Rainfall ◽  
Catch Per Unit Effort ◽  
Antecedent Rainfall ◽  
Game Species ◽  
Unit Effort ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Black Duck ◽  
Eastern Australia

Bag sizes of game ducks in New South Wales between 1977 and 1984 were compared with antecedent annual rainfall in eastern Australia. Mean bag size is equivalent to 'catch-per-unit-effort', an index of population abundance. Annual rainfall is an index of habitat availability for waterfowl. Bag sizes of Pacific black duck and all game species combined were significantly (P<O.05) related to antecedent rainfall. Rates of increase (computed from annual catch-per-unit-effort) of black duck, maned duck and all species combined were significantly related to rainfall difference between the preceding 2 years. This study indicates that prior rainfall is a useful predictor of duck numbers in New South Wales.

Waterbird Dynamics in the RIchmond VAlley, New SOuth Wales, 1974-77

1983 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 319 ◽  
Author(s):  
DG Gosper ◽  
SV Briggs ◽  
SM Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Seasonal Abundance ◽  
Black Swan ◽  
Abundance Patterns ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Black Duck ◽  
Murray River ◽  
Black Cormorant

'Monthly waterbird counts from February 1974 to June 1977 at six wetlands in the Richmond River valley in northern coastal New South Wales were analysed to investigate relationships between numbers of each species, and season and water variables. Black swan, Pacific black duck, purple swamphen, dusky moorhen, cattle egret, comb-crested jacana and sharp-tailed sandpiper were strongly influenced by season. Grey teal, straw-necked ibis, little black cormorant, Pacific heron and black-winged stilt numbers were related to Murray River discharge, an index of inland wetland availability in New South Wales, northern Victoria and parts of southern Queensland. Numbers of most waterbirds were highest on the coast from late summer to the end of winter. Their seasonal abundance patterns conform with the results of some previous studies but differ somewhat from others.

Benthic studies of waterfowl breeding habitat in south-western New South Wales. II. Chironomid populations

1984 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Maher ◽  
SM Carpenter
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Breeding Habitat ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Major Species ◽  
Polypedilum Nubifer

The dynamics of chironomid populations in waterfowl breeding habitat were investigated. Of 12 species recorded, Chironomus 'alternans a', C. tepperi, Kieflerulus intertinctus, Polypedilum nubifer and Procladius villosimanus were common in the mud habitats. C. 'alternans a' was the most commonly recorded species over the whole study, and C. tepperi dominated the faunas afier flooding. Dicrotendipes conjunctus and Dicrotendipes sp. 2 were the major species occurring on stick substrata, and Dicrotendipes sp. 2 and Polypedilum nubifer were dominant on plant substrata. Production of chironomids was high in the first 2 years following an extensive flood but thereafter fell rapidly. Correlative evidence is presented that suggests a relationship between abundance of C. tepperi larvae and breeding by waterfowl.

Hunter Activity and Waterfowls Havests in New South Wales, 1977-82

1985 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 515 ◽  
Author(s):  
SV Briggs ◽  
MT Maher ◽  
CC Davey
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Annual Variation ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Composition Effect ◽  
Regional Bias ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Black Duck

The results of six annual surveys of waterfowl hunters in New South Wales by mail card are reported. The aims of the survey were to ascertain reported distribution of hunting effort, size and composition of hunters' bags, and state of hunter origin. Hunting effort and waterfowl harvests were highest in southern inland New South Wales. Seasonal bag sizes varied between 15.8 and 27.2 ducks per hunter. Pacific black duck, grey teal and maned duck made up 88.6% of hunters' bags. About half the hunters in New South Wales originated from Victoria. Bag size and species composition, effect of reducing bag size on total harvest, regional bias in hunting effort and harvest, and annual variation in licence sales are discussed.

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