A COMPARISON OF 2 METHODS OF ESTIMATING BIRD MORTALITIES FROM FIELD-APPLIED PESTICIDES

At least two search methods for bird carcasses have been suggested to estimate bird mortality from the use of a pesticide, one outlined by t he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and one we propose. The proposed estimator provides a nonparametric, model-free procedure for estimation of nontarget bird kills. Data were collected during a field study to compare the methods. These data were used to provide paramet ers for a computer simulation comparing characteristics of the mortali ty estimates produced by the two methods. The proposed method demonstr ates marked advantages with respect to bias and mean squared error whe n compared to several interpretations of the EPA method in various sea rch and mortality scenarios. In addition, the proposed method often pr ovides estimates in instances where the EPA method cannot. The propose d estimator allows the estimation of search efficiency and survival pr obability simultaneously.