81 
WATERFOWL BREEDING POPULATION AND PRODUGTION IN THE 
NEWDALE-ERICKSON DISTRICT OF MANITOBA - 1953 
William H. Kiel, Jr. 
This is a brief report of the waterfowl breeding season on a study area in 
southwestern Manitoba. The background of this study and a description of the 
district are given in Special Scientific Report: Wildlife No. 2 (1949), p. 76. 
NT Be 
Acknowledgements 
A. S. Hawkins (USFWS) and Glenn Parsons (Manitoba Game Branch) conducted 
the spring breeding pair survey and located the bulk of the nests found. C. D. Evans 
(USFWS) worked on the nesting study and the brood survey. Others who worked in this 
district during the brood season are Don Reid (Canadian Wildlife Service), Jack Howard 
(Manitoba Game Branch), Gerald Pospichal and W. C. Newcomb (USFWS), Alex Dzubin 
and Tom Bergerud (Wildlife Management Institute), and Hawkins. 
Methods 
Trends in the breeding population and production were determined by methods 
described in Special Scientific Report: Wildlife No. 2 (1949), pp. 76-81, and Special 
Scientific Report: Wildlife No. 13, (1951), pp. 50-52. 
Habitat Conditions 
Heavy snowfall in March gave a good early spring run-off, Subsequent rains and 
snow turned the season into the wettest since 1950. The nesting season was marked by 
sub-freezing temperatures (low of 22° F.) and 4 inches of snow from May 11 to 16, plus 
exceptionally heavy rains totalling over 4 inches in the period May 24 - June 3. 
Table I compares the water conditions of 120 potholes over a 5-year period. 
Table I. - Water Conditions of 120 Semi-Permanent and Temporary Potholes 
PERVTCENT BY YEARS 
Year Dry by May 31 Dry by July 8 - 25 Dry by September 1 
1949 0 0 26 
1950 0 0 3 
1951 2 19 40 
1952 20 45 ? 
1953 0 0 ? 

Breeding Population 
Phenology 
Nesting records indicated that the 1953 breeding season was 7 to 10 days later 
phenologically than 1952. Adverse nesting conditions apparently staggered the hatch 
so that an unusually large number of broods were still flightless by mid-September. 
