
148 

WATERFOWL BREEDING GROUND SURVEY IN NEVADA - 1953 
Fred E, Wright — 
Introduction fa 
It has not been possible to cover the most of the trend areas more than once 
during the breeding season, and in some instances the period of observations are 
not close enough from one year to the next to be comparable. Several new areas 
were checked to determine whether they should be considered as key areas, which | 
have become accessible through the use of the airboat. The Humboldt Sink area 
will be added next year. 
Methods 
The reservoirs in northeastern Nevada were checked once this year by boat 
and the Humboldt River aerial transects were not covered for the second year. The 
several trend areas in west-central Nevada were checked twice by car, but it was not 
possible to expand the number of areas in this region to obtain a better sample. 
Weather and Water Conditions 
The weather through May and June was cold and stormy in the west and across 
the northern part of the State. The forecast for snow water run-off was from about 
normal in the north and west to below normal in the central and southern part of the 
State. Stored water was near capacity for most of the State. The late storms in May 
and June resulted in a one month delay in the growing season. Water on two trend 
areas was low with one of these being about two-thirds dry., 
Duck Production 
The number of nesting pairs was about the same to greater this year on the 
trend areas and pointed to a fair increase in production. The final production figure, 
however, indicates an average decrease of 30 percent. 
Table I. - Total of all Brood Classes by Species for 1952 and 1953 on Reservoir 
Trend Areas for a Comparative Period. 
Broods Young Average 
eae wg 2 LYRE Os AS Cees ae Seen Se 
Mallard 16 14 96 82 6.0 5.85 
Pintail 16 11 97 63 6.06 at ge 
Gadwall 35 14 260 122 7.44 8.74 
Cinnamon teal 10 12 52 82 5.20 6.82 
Green-winged teal 5 5 30 42 6.0 8.4 
Redhead 1 - 1 - 1.0 ~ 
Lesser Scaup 11 9 70 72 6.35 8.0 
Baldpate ~ 1 - 5 - 5.0 
Total , 94 66 606 468 6.45 7,09 
22.8 percent decrease in number of young 
29.8 percent decrease in number of broods 
