Evidence of in male-bias in capture samples of Marbled Murrelets from genetic studies in British Columbia


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Authors: Vanderkist, BA; Xue, XH; Griffiths, R; Martin, K; Beauchamp, W; Williams, TD
Year: 1999
Journal: Condor 101: 398-402
Title: Evidence of in male-bias in capture samples of Marbled Murrelets from genetic studies in British Columbia
Abstract: We report a significant male-bias ( 1.8:1) in Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus) captured with floating mist nets during the breeding season over four years (1994-1997) at Theodosia Inlet, Desolation Sound, British Columbia. There was little evidence for marked annual or diurnal variation in male-bias, or for variation due to flight direction of birds when the contacted the net (inland vs, out to sea). In contrast, samples of adult and juvenile Marbled Murrelets captured using a night-lighting technique at Desolation Sound in 1997 were not male-biased. We believe that the most likely explanation for our results is that there are sex-specific differences in behavior of Marbled Murrelets during the breeding period. such that more males than females are flying between marine foraging and inland nesting areas.
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