interview prep

I slept better last night, I made some green tea and cuddled in bed with my study notes, my bird classification book and an interviewing study guide book. Although any night following the night before last would guarantee for a good night sleep. Because it’s just me in bed I can put anything in bed and sleep with it in there, for example, I took the last few nights of sleeping as an indication of what last nights sleep pattern might be and filled the bed with books. I don’t think I woke up twice (I woke up once at 4am but to my surprise fell asleep shortly after).

In lieu of my interview today I thought that I would blog about the types of birds I studied last night. For this job at Ducks Unlimited I will be (keep your fingers crossed folks) I will be collecting data regarding nests found in certain types of vegetation and landscapes. In many of the internet sites I read last night regarding the same type of Prairie Pothole Regions as the study that DU is administrating I came across the fact that Mallards, Gadwalls, Northern Pintails and Blue-winged Teal are the most noted birds. From my sources of what I will have to know for this interview I am told to know bird ecology, meaning what they eat, when they breed where they migrate from etc. But since I know none of that and am going to be relying on a few facts.

Mallard. The mallard is the most abundant wild duck in North America, reaching almost 9 million birds. Their nesting takes place primarily in the Prairie provinces and they migrate to these provinces in march/april to nest in the dead grasses, reeds and sedges of the Prairie Pothole region. Mallards nest one of the earliest birds and have a long breeding season with the possibility of renesting before mid June when their breeding period ends along with most other ducks. Their breeding style is very similar to the Northern Pintail in length. The Mallard has the highest nesting success rate when nested in planted cover but the least while in cropland, for obvious tillage and predator reasons associated with cropland.

Northern Pintail. Despite the wide geographic range of the pintail it’s primarily nesting location is also in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR). They prefer shallow wetlands and planted cover but dislike grassland. As noted earlier the Pintail is much like the Mallard with similar breeding season, nesting early and renesting. Both the Mallard and the Pintail range from mid April to mid June. The Pintails breed shortly after the ice melts and are said to have a new mating partner each year being very promiscuous on the breeding grounds. They lay between 3-12 eggs at a time, laying one a day. The Northern Pintails are not endangered but their populations have decreased noticeably in size.

Gadwall. The Gadwall diet, and I’m assuming it’s the same as other mentioned ducks, consists of grass, aquatic plants, grain and nuts. Their population, unlike the pintails, have increased noticeably since the 1950’s. The breeding season is much like the Blue-Winged Teal. Both Ducks begin mid-late may and are done breeding by mid June. This breeding season is much shorter and begins later then the previous two bird species. The Gadwall prefers fresh water marshes in central North American, meaning the Prairie Provinces. A note about the Gadwall that will come in handy with the data collection is that the male Gadwall will leave the female midway through the incubation period. (To find a sexier duck, no doubt. I know all about you men. Damn you Gadwall)

Blue-Winged Teal. The Blue Winged Teal is noted to have the highest nesting success rate, meaning that their offspring are more likely to survive and prosper during the breeding season and summer and they are less affected by predators and tilling then the other birding locations. These birds are also noted to have great speed and beauty. The BWT is the first to migrate away in the fall but is the last to arrive in spring. Regardless of being the last to arrive they breed sooner then the Gadwall. Both these birds do not renest but have higher success rate then the Mallard and Pintail.

This data was taken from a study from the USGS collected early to mid 1980’s but published in 1995. The age of the publication is said to matter but how much would bird ecology change? Other bird information was found on a variety of websites relating to the specific species. If your going to be picky and ask for a work cited page, I can make one up for you, but please Miss Broadly, they aren’t life and death anymore. I hope you’ve all enjoyed your lesson about waterfowl.

PS. Shit, this interview is only 3 and a half hours away. Eeeeek.