The following are recent projects conducted on McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge:

• Telemetry study on mottled ducks to determine habitat use, regional movements, response to habitat management (e.g., prescribed burning, mowing, changes in water depths, etc.), and movements between refuge and other properties. 
• Lead exposure and accumulation rates in mottled ducks to determine if environmental lead availability and its exposure is a factor in the significant decrease in the mottled duck population. 
• Examination of habitat use and movement patterns by raccoons, an important predator of avian nesting birds, during various times of the year in relation to avian life history events.  Insights into habitat use and movement will assist in the design and management of nesting habitat for avian species on the Upper Texas Coast. 
• National, regional and local banding studies of migratory waterfowl and other migratory birds, including ongoing banding studies of mottled ducks and snow geese.
• Periodic spring and fall shorebird surveys in various representative wetlands habitats, including those collecting data on the endangered piping plover. 
• Various habitat use studies of all six species of North American rails.
• Contaminant exposure and habitat use by black-necked stilts.

For more information on this research, please contact the refuge.