WATERFOWL BREEDING GROUND SURVEY IN MANITOBA - 1949 
Arthur S. Hawkins 
Breeding numbers, breedng conditions, and breeding success for waterfowl 
using Manitoba during 1949 are discussed in this report. Similar surveys, 
made in 1947 and 1948, are discussed in Special Scientific Reports Nos. 45 and 
60, This year's counts are compared to last year's in attempting to arrive at 
a trend figure for the area sampled. Until this year, the survey encompassed 
only about 40 percent of the Province, thi ™part south of 54°. This yeer's 
survey reached the 60th parallel which marks the northern boundary of the 
Prairie Provinces. 
Span of the 1949 survey was April 20 to October 1. When the survey crew 
arrived, the first mallards end pintails were just starting to neet; when the 
survey was completed, the latest broods were a-wing and the hunting season was 
in full swing. 
A six-man staff spent full time collecting the data herein presented. 
A two-man crew, traveling by car, measured breedirg populations twice (early 
May end early June) and breeding succese once (mid-July) along each permanent 
transect. Another two-man crew, using a Sea-bee amphibious plane, made one 
count in May along permanent transects, then in June shifted operations to 
northern and eastern parts of the Province not surveyed previously. Personnel 
was used interchangeably on ground and aerial teams. A fifth man spent full 
time making a detailed study of Manitoba's choicest pothole country, Inventory 
Dietrict & (See report by Kiel). In June, a sixth man was added to the staff 
to make a detailed: production study in District 8 (See report by Evans, ) 
In addition to the full-time staff, a dozen Manitoba Conservation 
Officers made May and July counts along permanent transect lines established 
in 1948 (See report by Cols). Other Conservation Officers, stationed at 
northern outposts, submitted reports relative to waterfowl conditions in 
their districts. 
Methods Used in Sampling and Area Covered 
The sampling method used in Manitoba is described in detail in the 1948 
report. Procedures were the same this year except that efforts to measure 
production were intensified as follows: 1. Two special full-time studies of 
prime pothole country were inaugurated. 2. <A deliberate attempt was made to 
find nests as an aid in evaluating breeding success rates. 3, Ten percent 
of the water areas surveyed were worked rather intensively. These study areas 
were selected at random. 4. More time was spent than ever before in reworking 
transect areas throughout July, in order to appraise production. 5. Ten 
guarter-section study aress were enaced through Inventory District 8 to 
determine the value o: this method °9f sampling, compared to other methods 
being used. 
u/ Staff members, in adcition to the authors F. G Gooch, Dominion Wildlife 
Service: E. N. Cole, Manitoba Game and Fisheries Branch; W. C. Arline, 
U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service; W. H. Kiel, University of Wisconsin; 
GC. D. Bvans, University of Minnesota; Charles Horner, U. S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service. 
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