Pacific, Yellow-billed, and Red-throated Loon Nest Monitoring in Alaska, 2011-2014

Nest monitoring data for three loon species collected at two sites in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska during the summers of 2011 to 2014. The data includes nest site categorization by lake characteristics and proximity to other loons, weekly fate assessments, and embryo development estimates via egg flotation. The dataset was authored by Brian D. Uher‐Koch of the United States Geological Survey.

Use Cases

• Modeling nest success rates based on lake physical aspects and neighbor proximity.
• Analyzing temporal trends in loon reproduction across a four-year period.
• Studying embryo development and hatch date prediction using egg flotation data.
• Assessing habitat selection for nesting based on categorized site features.

Strengths

• Data covers four consecutive summer field seasons (2011-2014).
• Monitoring protocol involved weekly nest revisits for fate determination.
• Nest sites were categorized by multiple environmental factors.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data is limited to two specific 64 km2 sites within the NPR-A.

Provenance

Source

United States Geological Survey

Collection Method

Field monitoring involving weekly nest inspections and egg flotation.

Time Range

2011-2014

Geography

Two 64 km2 sites in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A)