residents only, 3 (4%) as winter residents only, and 5 (7%) as visitors 

 or transients. A total of 46 species were designated breeding species, 

 14 of which were confirmed breeders (active nests or dependent young ob- 

 served). Evidence for overwintering was encountered for 11 species (if 

 a species was encountered during botn January and February, it was considered 

 an overwintering bird). 



Skaar's (1975) data indicate that 5C of the 72 species encountered 

 in this study are confirmed breeders in this area of the state and 

 another 17 are circumstantial breeders; also, 35 of these species are 

 known to winter in this region o^ the state. 



Winter transients were defined as those species which were observed 

 on one occasion sometime during the period from January to March 15. 

 Although seven species were classified as winter transients, Skaar 

 (1975) indicates that all but the snow bunting actually spend the winter 

 in northwest Montana. 



It should be noted that very little field work was conducted during 

 the late summer and fall months (August through November); the observations 

 listed in Table 2 for these months were casual observations made incidental 

 to other work. Therefore, the low numbers of species reported in Table 2 

 for these months are likely due to a lack of intensive field work rather 

 than to a low diversity of birds. No field work was conducted in December. 



Water Bird Survey and Census 



Table 4 lists the number of waterfowl observations recorded each 

 month in the study area, January through July, 1978. Since individual 

 birds were often seen and recorded more than once during a given month, 

 the figures given by no means represent a census of the number of birds 

 present; they do, however, give an indication of relative abundances in 

 the study area. 



Table 5 presents the results of the 1979 census of waterfowl popula- 

 tions of sections G-N, P-S, and Z, Figure 4. In this table, the minimum 

 number of birds known to be present below the Falls, above the Falls, and 

 along the entire stretch are presented. 



During the March through May, 1978 spring migration period, seven 



species of waterfowl were observed in the Kootenai Falls study area. 



Common goldeneye was the most prevalent species followed by mallard, 



common merganser, Canada goose, harlequin duck, Barrow's goldeneye, and 

 American wigeon. 



Of the seven species observed in 1978 during spring migration, 

 three species were known to breed in the study area, including common 

 merganser, mallard, and Canada goose. Territorial pairs of harlequin 

 ducks and common goldeneye were observed on the study area, which indicate 

 that breeding probably occurred (Dzubin 1969). 



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