Estimation of the Size of an Open Population Using Local Estimating Equations II: A Partially Parametric Approach

Kernel smoothing methods are applied to extend a modification of the closed population approach of Lloyd and Yip (1991, in Estimating Equations, 65-88) to open populations with frequent capture occasions. The method complements previous nonparametric methods and, when the parametric assumptions are met, simulations show the new method has a smaller integrated mean squared error than the previous fully nonparametric method. The method is applied to capture-recapture data on short-tailed shearwaters collected annually for 48 years.