The mottled duck is a resident dabbling duck that is distributed throughout the western Gulf Coast, primarily in Louisiana and Texas (WGC population), and also in a second population in peninsular Florida (Florida population). Within the WGC, several indices of abundance suggest that the mottled duck has declined over the last several decades, but the ability of many of these indices to detect changes in mottled duck abundance is unknown. Additionally, the surveys often provide different and sometimes conflicting results, causing confusion in interpreting WGC population trends. Also, differences in timing and coverage of surveys further complicate our understanding of the population trend. Overall, none of the surveys were meeting the information needs of several stakeholders. Because of these limitations, a range-wide breeding mottled duck survey was initiated in 2008 with the collaboration of the major waterfowl conservation partners within the WGC region. Based on the needs of the conservation partners, the new survey was designed to provide information to estimate population mottled duck abundance and trends for the entire WGC population, and to allow estimation of state-specific abundances. Because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service planned to start managing harvest regulations for mottled ducks at the population scale, the need for the survey was warranted further.It is important to point out that the basis of this proposal was developed by the conservation partners that manage the WGC mottled duck population (USFWS, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Louisiana Department of Fish and Wildlife, Gulf Coast JV). Thus, the development and implementation of the proposed project will be directed by the principle investigator, but will be carried out under the auspices of the collective conservation partnership. This will be realized by the development of an advisory team consisting of a manageable number of representatives from the conservation agencies. The advisory team will be integral to the development and implementation of the project, and will be tied into decision-making throughout the project.
