Distribution and abundance of waterbirds in coastal Texas

Anderson JT; Muehl GT; Tacha TC

Distribution and abundance of waterbirds in coastal Texas

Date

1997

Authors

Anderson JT; Muehl GT; Tacha TC

Abstract

Population sizes of waterbirds were estimated in coastal Texas from Galveston Bay south to the Rio Grande in September and November 1992 and January and March 1993. Estimates were made for 116 species based on a stratified random sample of 1,009 plots 64.75-ha (quarter section) in area. Numbers of waterfowl exceeded 7.5 million birds in January 1993; shorebirds exceeded 1 million during March 1993, and other waterbirds exceeded 460,000 in November 1992. Ground estimates for most waterfowl species generally were higher than results of Mid-winter Inventory (MWI) counts. Ground surveys may become an alternative to aerial waterfowl surveys in some areas, but ground surveys need additional refinements in strata definitions to minimize variance estimates without increasing the number of plots sampled

Description

1-15

Keywords

Aves: Animals,Birds,Chordates,Nonhuman Vertebrates,Vertebrates; Charadriiformes: Animals,Birds,Chordates,Nonhuman Vertebrates,Vertebrates;Biogeography: Population Studies;birds: 116 species [Aves]; waterfowl [Aves]; shorebird [Charadriiformes];geographic distribution; population size; species abundance; species distribution; Checklist; Mid-Winter Inventory [MWI];[07502] Ecology: environmental biology - General and methods;[62518] Chordata: general and systematic - Aves;[62800] Animal distribution;[85500] Aves;[85500] Aves,Vertebrata,Chordata,Animalia [85518] Charadriiformes,Aves,Vertebrata,Chordata,Animalia;[85518] Charadriiformes;