Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Mississippi
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Compared with other dabbling ducks, blue-winged teal (Spatula discors, BWTE) migrate earlier in autumn, migrate later in spring, and winter at more southern latitudes with a broader distribution. Thus, the extent to which management decisions, particularly wetland inundation that allow other dabbling species to access food resources, benefit BWTE remains unclear. We propose to use data from BWTE marked with GPS-GSM transmitters and satellite imagery, to better understand the role of environmental variability (e.g., water availability) and land ownership on BWTE resource selection, movement, and survival during the annual cycle.