Least Squares Estimation of Avian Molt Rates

Authors

Douglas H. Johnson, USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research CenterFollow

Date of this Version

1989

Comments

Published in BIOMETRICS 45, 657-661 June 1989.

Abstract

A straightforward least squares method of estimating the rate at which birds molt feathers is presented, suitable for birds captured more than once during the period of molt. The date of molt onset can also be estimated. The method is applied to male and female mourning doves.