Winona State University
BIOL 406/506 - ORNITHOLOGY
Lab Exercise

SPRING MIGRATION WATERFOWL SURVEY

OBJECTIVE

Each year during spring, thousands of waterfowl use the Mississippi River corridor as a migration route to their breeding areas further north. Many birds stop to rest and feed in the river, as well as in various lakes and wetlands around Winona. This exercise will familiarize you with a wide variety of different waterfowl using Lake Winona and the Hunter's Lake area of Crooked Slough during April.


HYPOTHESIS

The waterfowl communities using Lake Winona and Hunter's Lake will be similar during mid-April.


METHODOLOGY

As many waterfowl as possible will be counted and identified on Lake Winona and Hunter's Lake during a single morning. Birds will be counted and identified to species from a variety of shoreline sites on each lake with the aid of binoculars and spotting scopes. No attempt will be made to keep separate tallies of males and females of each species.


ANALYSIS

After data are collected, display the species and numbers of waterfowl observed on each lake in table form. Consult your field guide for appropriate names (common and scientific). Compare and contrast species presence/absence and relative abundances (%). For each lake, calculate a Shannon diversity index (H') for the waterfowl community (Ecology lab manual). Compare how similar waterfowl communities were on the two lakes by calculating a Bray-Curtis index of community similarity (Ecology lab manual). A Bray -Curtis index value > 0.6 indicates a significant similarity between communities. Conversely, a Bray-Curtis value < 0.6 indicates a significant difference between the two communities being compared.


EQUIPMENT

Bird field guide
Binoculars
Spotting scopes
Ecology lab manual

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