
71 
Roadside Brood Counts 
Results of roadside brood counts for the four-year period follow: 
1952 1953 1954 1955 
Total Miles Covered 157 157 190 199 
Total Broods Seen 251 342 151 368 
Broods Per Lineal Mile 1.60 2.18 0.79 1,93 
We explained in our 1953 report that the roadside count showed an 
increase in that year over 1952 which actually didn't occur. The roadside count 
was high in 1953 due to the later nesting season which caused a telescoping of 
’ the brooding season. In 1954 the breeding season was also telescoped and that 
year the reduction of 64 percent from 1953 compared almost exactly to the 61 
percent decrease found on beat-outs. In 1955 we found a 99 percent increase in 
broods on the beat-out brood counts over 1954 but 22 percent less than in 1953. 
On the roadside count in 1955 we found 144 percent more broods per lineal mile 
than in 1954 and 12 percent less than in 1953. 
Roadside transects by automobile are subject to the same errors as 
aerial brood counts. Changes in amount of emergent vegetation, water levels and 
in shoreline vegetation all affect accuracy between years, For some species such 
as most diving ducks and for the baldpate, the method is good. For mallards, 
and pintails it is especially bad. A series of compensatory factors can be worked 
out to apply to each species but this in itself would require several years of 
intensive study in order to encounter all the various fluctuations in visibility due 
to environment changes. 
Banding 
Banding returns from 1953 and 1954 on or adjacent to the Redvers 
Study Area are shown below: 
Number and Location of Returns - 1953 
lst. Yr. No. 2nd. 

No. Return/ Year Pac, Cen. Miss. Atlan. Central 
Species Banded 100 Banded Returns Canada Flyway Flyway Flyway Flyway American 
Mallard. 196 16.3 4 12 0 14 10 0 0 
B-w. Teal 51 = 3.9 1 1 0 l 1 0 0 
Baldpate 31 12.9 1 1 0 2 0 1 m= 
Pintail 13 30.7 0 0 1 2 ] 0 0 
Shoveler 11 9.1 0 0 0 0 0 ] 0 
Canvasback 7 14,1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 
Redhead 3 33.3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
. Total 312 14,4 ? 16 l 19 12 3 
Percent 0 0 0 30.8 1.9 36.5 23.1 5.8 1.9 
