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Banding Study in Louisiana Helps Researchers Understand Hunting Pressure on Woodcock
Under the near total darkness of December’s new moon, the low mechanical lute-lute-lute sound of the four-wheeler’s muffler could be heard as its driver, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Biologist, Cody Cedotal, ever so slowly transected the field.
Setting above the front wheels, Biologist, Fred Kimmel, scanned his hand-held
sealed beam diligently from side to side, searching the low grass. Suddenly, Kimmel motioned for Cedotal to stop.
With the light now motionless, misty moisture could be seen falling to the ground through the beam’s ray of light, as cooler air from the passing cold front collided with the warmer earth below. At the end of the ray sat a feathery object – our first woodcock of the night.
Since 1991, Kimmel and LDWF Biologist, Michael Olinde, have been capturing and banding woodcocks on Sherburne Wildlife Management Area, to determine the impact of hunting pressure that Louisiana hunters place on these popular upland birds.
“It’s sort of a tradition for folks around here,” Olinde said. “People from Opelousas to Baton Rouge are woodcock hunters, but hunter numbers are small compared to where it was 30 years ago. Statewide, there are not even one tenth of the hunters we used to have. We used to have 40,000 and now we’re down to – most years – 4,000.”
Because Sherburne WMA is located off Interstate I-10 between two major cities, Baton Rouge and Lafayette, Kimmel considers the hunting pressure could be the highest there.
“We think this is really the worst case and about as bad as it would get,” Kimmel explained. “And, given that, I don’t think the pressure is all that excessive. To get a better picture in all of Louisiana, Mike (Olinde) is starting to band birds in areas where there is open hunting, which we feel is pretty light pressure. So, we will be banding around the state in other areas for the next three years.”
Kimmel pointed out that woodcock have virtually no pressure throughout much of the state. “If you think of all of the land behind locked gates in deer clubs and things – a woodcock hunter – never even gets in there,” He said. “Certainly, most of the woodcock in the state never see a hunter.”
Kimmel mentioned two factors that might increase the probability of shooting one of the birds they band.
He said, “Keep in mind, we’re banding during the hunting season and hunters are hunting right on top of where we’re banding, so they like to come here. We run from zero to 20 percent harvest, but it varies year to year depending on the word getting out that there are birds at Sherburne.”
Woodcock, like waterfowl, travel extreme distances to reach the wintering grounds here in Louisiana. Kimmel and Olinde mentioned having bands returned from northern states such as Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and occasionally from across the border in Canada.
Other states the biologists mentioned were Midwestern states such as Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. Yet, Kimmel indicated that migration remains a little bit of mystery, citing aerial telemetry studies conducted by University of Arkansas Professor, David Krementz.
Where most people believed woodcock moved with the frost line, Kimmel says the studies showed otherwise. “The birds flew in spurts. They weren’t trickling down. They would set down and spend a week or so and would get up and move again. They sort of do it in a hopscotch fashion. So, it looks like it’s a long distance, but it’s not.”
Though there was one case where a bird was documented as having migrated 400 miles it’s not normal. Olinde believes the birds need the stopovers to refuel. He said, “I think they refuel because they burn a lot of energy and then make a jump. Earthworms are their primary feed, but they’ll pick up grubs, millipedes and there are studies that show they eat other things. But, the bottom line is, they have to eat their daily weight in earthworms to stay alive.”
Though Kimmel and Olinde’s banding efforts focus on hunting pressure’s impact on woodcock populations, most biologists concur that habitat loss is the reason for the birds decline.
Kimmel said, “We went through a period in the 50s and 60s where abandoned farms grew back in aspen and wound up young forest. All those areas have matured now into forest. Woodcock need young forest. The only way you’re going to get that is to cut trees. And, with the attitude changes in some areas for cutting trees, it’s hampered efforts to restore woodcock habitat.”
The tip of a woodcock’s bill is prehensile, where they can actually grab hold of an earthworm with it, though it’s pushed into a tight space in the ground. Mud could actually be seen at the top of the bill of some of the woodcock Kimmel and Cedotal caught, as they fed in the safety of the open field after dark.
Kimmel and Cedotal gently handled each bird with care, as they determined their age and sex. Male birds are as much as a third lighter and their bills are shorter than females. Kimmel demonstrated a quick method of measuring a woodcock’s bill using a dollar to measure its length. If the bill was longer than the width of the dollar, chances are it was a female.
Kimmel jested that he and Olinde are perhaps among a few that have the unique skill of capturing and banding woodcocks – though probably not very marketable.
Woodcock hunting conjures up images of fine breeds of sporting dogs such as English Setters and Brittany Spaniels holding point, while men in tweed coats holding elegant walnut wooded over and under shotguns walk in to make a flush. The work that researchers like Kimmel and Olinde do while we sleep, will ensure those images remain for future generations.
If you wish to make a comment or have an anecdote, recipe, or story you wish to share, John K. Flores can be contacted by calling (985) 395-5586 or by e-mail: HYPERLINK "mailto:gowiththeflo@cox.net" gowiththeflo@cox.net
2007-298
L.W.F.C. PASSES TWO NOTICES OF INTENT ON BOATING SAFETY
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission adopted two notices of intent to boating safety for select hand tiller outboard motor vessels.
The first notice of intent would require operators of Class A (up to 16 feet) and Class One (16 feet to less than 26 feet) motorboats, which already have an existing engine cut-off switch and are equipped with a hand tiller outboard motor, to use engine cut-off switches. The engine cut-off switch on these types of boats would have to be attached to the operator via a lanyard. Any motorboat manufactured without an engine cut-off switch would not fall under this new rule. This rule also would not apply to any commercial activity.
The second notice of intent would require operators and passengers to wear their personal flotation devices (PFD) while aboard a Class A motorboat steered by a tiller outboard motor while moving. The operator of this type of motorboat would be responsible to ensure all passengers on board are in compliance of this new rule.
Written comments on these notices of intent can be submitted to Lt. Col. Jeff Mayne, Enforcement Division, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, P.O. Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000 no later than Feb. 7, 2008.
SEASONS:
Rabbit & Squirrel – through February 29.
Quail – through February 29.
Woodcock – through January 31.
Deer Area 6 – Archery through February 15.
Deer Area 6 – Regular gun (with or without dogs) through January 20.
Deer Area 6 – Muzzleloader January 21 – 27.
Deer Area 7 – Archery through January 31.
Deer Area 7 – Regular gun (with or without dogs) through December 30.
Waterfowl
West Zone through January 20.
East Zone through January 27.
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