US Fish & Wildlife Service

 

Date of this Version

2010

Citation

Rabe, M. J., and T. A. Sanders. 2010. White-winged dove population status, 2010. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Bird Management, Washington, D.C.

Abstract

This report summarizes information on the abundance and harvest of white-winged doves (Zenaida asiatica) in Arizona. Since 1962, the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD) has conducted a call-count survey to monitor relative abundance of white-winged dove populations. Based on this survey, the annual count of doves heard per route peaked at 52.3 birds in 1968 and then declined until about 2000, after which, the mean annual count has remained stable at 24.7 doves per route (2001–2010). In 2010, the mean annual count of doves heard per route was 23.6. Also, the AGFD monitored white-winged dove harvest during 1962–2008. Harvest peaked at about 740,000 birds in 1968, decreased to a mean annual harvest of about 391,000 during the 1970s, and decreased again to about 131,000 birds annually during 1980–2008. The state-based harvest survey was discontinued after the 2008 season with establishment of the federal Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program (HIP). Based on HIP, the current (2009) estimates of white-winged dove total harvest, active hunters, and hunter days afield in Arizona were 124,500 ± 12,069 (estimate ± SE) birds, 20,400 ± 1,561 hunters, and 68,200 ± 6,611 days afield. Hatching year birds comprised a mean of 63% of the total white-winged dove harvest during 1968–2009 based on hunter bag checks at two AGFD operated stations, and 54% of total harvest in 2009.

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