PROBLEMS IN AERIAL SURVEYS OF WATERFOWL IN EASTERN CANADA 
This report discusses progress in the development of surveys 
to determine the number of waterfowl nesting in eastern Canada. 
Of the 15 species of waterfowl regularly observed during the exper¬ 
imental surveys, the species of primary interest are the black duck, 
Anas rubripes , and the Canada goose, Branta canadensis . Determining 
the status of these two species annually in eastern Canada is of 
major concern to those responsible for the management of waterfowl 
resources in Eastern North America. 
The aerial surveys in eastern Canada usually cover in excess 
of 600,000 square miles, an area equivalent to approximately 17 per¬ 
cent of the United States. The surveys have not routinely included 
the Maritime Provinces of Canada, the New York - New England region 
or Michigan, all of which encompass important waterfowl breeding 
ranges in the East, and these areas are not discussed in this report. 
If these regions were included, the survey area would equal in size 
the United States east of the Mississippi River. 
Results of aerial surveys in eastern Canada have been summarized 
annually in the Waterfowl Status Reports of the Bureau of Sport 1 
Fisheries and Wildlife. This report presents a more detailed exam¬ 
ination of data relating to the black duck. In examining the survey 
data on the black duck, the primary consideration is development of 
an analysis that yields meaningful information. 
History of Study 
The first aerial surveys of waterfowl breeding populations in 
eastern Canada were flown in 1949. From 1949 to 1952, surveys were 
concentrated along the St. Lawrence River, the Lake St. John area 
of Quebec, Anticosti Island, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, 
and Nova Scotia (Hanson, 1955). Much of this work was exploratory. 
In 1952, for the first time, most of the flying was in Quebec and 
Labrador, but a part of eastern Ontario was included. 
Two important changes were made in the survey procedures in 
1953. The %-mile-wide overland (or straight-line) transect segments 
were changed in length from 10 minutes of flying time to 18 miles. 
In addition, two survey coverages were attempted in Quebec and 
Labrador; the second survey, conducted in July, was an attempt to 
determine the number of young produced by the breeding population 
recorded on the first survey. 
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