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WATERFOWL NESTING SURVEY - MISSOURI, 1955 
Lewis G. Helm 
Introduction 
Since 1951 an annual waterfowl nesting survey has been conducted in 
Missouri by conservation agents, game biologists, and waterfowl area personnel. 
The purpose of the survey is to obtain trends in the summer resident population 
of wood ducks, mallards, and blue-winged teal; the survey covers essentially the 
same streams, lakes, and marshes each year. Each lone drake, lone hen, pair, 
and brood are recorded as a nesting attempt, and the total nesting effort is com- 
puted as the sum of these observations, 
This year the survey was carried out during the period May 22 to 
June 3, and 4] conservation agents, 12 Federal-Aid Biologists, and the managers 
of five State and Federal areas contributed information. 
Spring Migration 
Spring movements of waterfowl were considered to have taken place 
quite early this year. The unprecedented number of wintering mallards in the 
State had dwindled to only a few thousand by late March, and blue-winged teal 
started moving through the State on March 6 or approximately two weeks earlier 
than most years. Wood ducks were observed in the northern portion of the State 
by March 9, and females were seen hunting for nest sites soon after that date. 
Pintails moved through the State in normal numbers during February and early 
March, while Canada geese and blue and snow geese were beginning their mass 
movements very early in March, 
Waterfowl Nesting Survey 
A summary of the results of the 1955 nesting survey is shown in 
Table I. This year, 2,610 acres of lake and marsh were censused, 666 miles of 
stream transects were run, and 4,500 acres of State and Federal waterfowl areas 
were surveyed. For purposes of comparison, total nesting attempts of wood 
ducks, mallards, and blue-winged teal are computed as nesting effort per census 
unit. Small numbers of pintail, baldpates, shovelers, scaup, ring-necked ducks, 
hooded mergansers, Canada geese, and coots were observed; it is problematical - 
whether any of these birds were potential nesters or merely stragglers of the 
spring migration. An exception to this is the ring-necked duck brood which was 
recarded on the Mississippi River in Pike County. 
