Mourning Dove Recoveries from Mexico

Book excerpt: Of 37,000 reports of mourning dove band recoveries in the files of the Migratory Bird Populations Station on October 30, 1967, 1,120 came from Mexico, and half of those were from Jalisco and Michoacan, both in west-central Mexico; Jalisco alone accounted for nearly a third. Few recoveries were reported from the area between the U.S. border and mid-Mexico. Generally, lower proportions of total recoveries were reported from Mexico under the current pre-hunting season banding program for flying birds than were reported from the nestling dove banding program of the 1950's. Bandings in the northern U.S. States produced proportionally more recoveries than bandings in the southern U.S. States. Doves banded over diverse areas of the United States were harvested in common migration with wintering areas in Mexico. Possible explanations of the heterogeneous distribution of recoveries throughout Mexico are discussed. Of the banded birds for which "how obtained" was known, 83.5 percent were reported as shot (or killed) and only 3.2 percent reported as captured or trapped. Among 658 persons who gave their name and residence when they reported bands, 95.7 percent had typically Spanish surnames and were residents of Mexico. Depending upon actual banding reporting rates and the representativeness of the banding data analyzed, the Mexican dove harvest may equal or exceed harvests in leading U.S. States. Factors influencing band reporting rates must be resolved before Mexico's importance as a harvest area can be accurately determined.