Breeding Biology of Subcutaneous Transmitter Implanted White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica) in Kingsville Texas

Abstract

Various types of transmitter attachments have been used to obtain nesting data for birds. Previous studies testing the effectiveness of various attachment devices show that subcutaneous implants did not negatively impact captive nesting doves. Forty-two white-winged doves (Zenaida aszatzca) trapped in Kingsville, Texas, were implanted with a transmitter in the field and released following surgery. Doves were checked after 24-h to assess whether surgery caused mortality to the bird. The 24-h post surgery survival of doves was 97.6%. The 72-h post surgery survival of doves was 95.2%. Average surgery lengths were 8.04 minutes. Doves were tracked using "H" and Yagi style antennas. Of 40 doves with transmitters, 26 nested at least once. Ten birds nested a second time and three individuals nested a third time. Eighty-five percent of nests occurred in live oak (Quercus fusiformes) and Rio Grande ash (Fraxinus berlandieriana) trees. The overall nest survival rate was 0.53 in 2000. Transmitters began to fail within 50 days of surgery. This field test showed that subcutaneous implants are an effective method for tracking and collecting reproductive and nesting data for white-winged doves.