MORGAN CITY, La. (AP) - A Louisiana State University doctoral student is hoping solar-powered GPS transmitters help her track down what sort of territory mottled ducks prefer for their nests.
Elizabeth Bonczek tells The Daily Review that populations are declining along much of the upper Texas coastline, apparently due to habitat loss. But she says there's very little known about what's best for their nests.
She and state wildlife biologists went out into Rockefeller Wildlife Refuge while Hurricane Harvey was in the western Gulf to get the transmitters onto ducks.
Bonczek says her study will look at how the type of landscape is related to nest site, nesting success, adult survival, and females' likelihood of breeding.