WOODCOCK SINGING COUNTS~-EASTERN CANADA, 1952 
Victor F. F. Solman 
Canadian Wildlife Service 
Spring counts of singing male woodcock have been made in selected 
areas in eastern Canada during the last two weeks of April and the first 
two weeks of May for several years. During 1952, such counts were made 
in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. 
The counts were made by reliable observers, including officers of 
the Canadian Wildlife Service, the Wildlife Management Institute, Pro- 
vincial Game Departments, members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 
and interested private citizens who cooperated on a voluntary basis. 
The relation between the number of singing male woodcock in an 
area and the breeding woodcock population of the area is not know. 
In the absence of an easily determined, more reliable index, counts 
of singing male woodcock, taken annually under comparable conditions 
are considered to indicate trends in the woodcock populations in the 
areas concerned. 
Ontario 
The number of singing male woodcock reported in areas fron which 
comparable data for one or more previous years are available had de~- 
ereased to 46 from a 1951 total of 79 and a several-year average of 
73.0. The marked decrease was reported in all three sampling areas. 
Quebec 
The four areas established in 1951 were reexamined. Thirteen 
male birds were reported in comparison to 16 in 1951. 
New Brunswick 
The number of singing male woodcock recorded on check areas had 
increased from 180 in 1951 to 201 in 1952. The several-year average 
for the areas is 186.6. 
Nova Scotia 
The 1952 total of singing male wodcock was 52 compared to 46 in 
1951 and a several-year average of 46.6. 
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