“…Robust design in combination with auxiliary resightings of live individuals outside of the primary sampling area or period is a very effective way of reducing terminal bias in survival estimates under Markovian temporary emigration (Peñaloza, Kendall, & Langtimm, 2014). Despite the benefits of increased precision of parameter estimates and user-friendly implementation in program MARK (White & Burnham, 1999), the Barker/robust design approach has only rarely been used in empirical applications to estimate survival and population size or density (as derived parameters) of wild animal populations (Fabrizio, Tuckey, Latour, White, & Norris, 2018;Gómez-Ramírez, Gutiérrez-González, & López-González, 2017;Gutiérrez-González, Gómez-Ramírez, López-González, & Doherty, 2015;Ivan, White, & Shenk, 2014;Weithman et al, 2017). Weithman et al (2017) additionally interpreted the "availability" parameter (aʹ, the probability of being available for capture given that the individual was previously unavailable for capture) as a measure of breeding probability in piping plover (Charadrius melodus), a migratory shorebird.…”