Eastern Great Lakes group 
Banding in the small region consisting of southeastern Ontario 
and the portion of New York bordering Lake Ontario produced recov¬ 
eries in both the Mississippi and the Atlantic Flyways (table 25). 
Recoveries in the Mississippi Flyway appeared to result from a random 
movement in the region of the Great Lakes. Movements of birds into 
the Atlantic coastal region appeared to be more definite, with migration 
from the Great Lakes through the Finger Lakes region of New York and 
the Susquehanna River to Chesapeake Bay. This pattern is similar to 
that for the small proportion of mallards from the northern part of 
the Mississippi Flyway that move to the Atlantic Flyway. 
Atlantic group 
This area includes all States of the Atlantic Flyway excepting 
the portion of New York adjacent to Lake Ontario and all Canadian 
Provinces east of Ontario. All direct recoveries (23) from reference 
areas in this region have been within the Atlantic Flyway or from 
adjacent parts of Canada. Mallard breeding populations in this 
region are low and are probably of most importance to the Naw England 
States. Reference areas in this region probably do not contribute as 
greatly to the kill from Chesapeake Bay and south as does the small 
proportion (1 to 4 percent) of birds from the Canadian prairies, North 
Dakota, and northern Minnesota. 
Two distinct migration routes appear to be used by prairie 
mallards that winter on the Atlantic seaboard. Those originating 
in western Manitoba and Saskatchewan follow routes to the central 
Mississippi Flyway region and then move through Kentucky, Tennessee, 
and Alabama to the Atlantic coast. The major movement appeared to 
follow the Tennessee River and adjacent watersheds to a terminus in 
South Carolina (figs. 10, 11, and 12). Thus, about 80 percent of 
recoveries in the Atlantic Flyway from banding in western Manitoba 
and Saskatchewan occurred between 32° and 37° of latitude; while 10 
percent of the recoveries indicated a northern route of lesser 
importance through the Great Lakes and the Susquehanna River into 
Chesapeake Bay. Birds from North Dakota and Minnesota appeared to 
follow this northern route, and all of the recoveries in the Atlantic 
Flyway from these two States were north of 35° latitude. A small 
fraction of birds from the Canadian prairies, the Dakotas, and 
Minnesota moved along the Gulf Coast and were recovered in western 
Florida, but none appeared to reach the Atlantic coast. 
16 
