SURVIVAL OF BREEDING MALE AMERICAN WOODCOCK IN MAINE

We radio-marked 150 male American woodcock (Scolopax minor) during 198 7-1989 and estimated period survival for 1 April-15 June. Survival var ied from 0.690 (1989) to 0.924 (1988), with a 3-year mean (95% confide nce interval) of 0.789 (0.693-0.885). Woodcock were killed by raptors (n=14, 53.8%), mammals (n=1, 3.8%), or unknown predators (n=5, 19.2%); six deaths (23.1%) were from miscellaneous causes, including three (1 1.5%) from entanglement in the transmitter harness. A composite surviv al estimate based on telemetry studies for the breeding, postbreeding, and wintering periods was 0.471 (0.789x0.923x0.647). The calculated s urvival rates were 0.881 for the spring migration period and 0.853 for the combined hunting and fall migration period. In a proportional haz ards model, body mass at capture was not related to survival. Forest t ype (hardwood versus conifers) affected survival (P <0.016), which was lower for woodcock using mostly conifer sites. Survival was related p ositively to mean snow depth in December (P <0.038), negatively to sno w depth in April (P <0.046), and positively to minimum temperature in December(P <0.054) and April (P <0.066) in some analyses.