
WOODCOCK SINGING COUNTS, FASTERN CANADA, 1953 
_ Victor E. F. Solman 
Canadian Wildlife Service 
Spring counts of singing male wodcock have been made in select- 
ed areas in eastern Canada during the last half of April and the first 
half of May for the past several years, During 1953 such counts were 
made in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward 
Island. i 
In all cases the counts were made by reliable observers including 
officers of the Canadian Wildlife Service, the Wildlife Management 
Institute, Provincial game departments, members of the Royal Canadian 
Mounted Police and other volunteer observers. 
The number of singing male woodcock in an area has not been 
definitely related to the breeding population of the area. In the 
absence of any other easily determined, reliable population index 
for the species, counts of singing males taken annually under comparable 
conditions are considered to indicate trends in the woodcock populations 
in the areas under study. 
Table 6 furnishes a summary of the 1953 information for comparison 
with 1952 data, and with average conditions representing a number of 
years' records for identical areas. 
Table 6.--Total singing counts for eastern Canada 
1952 1953 = Average 
Ontario a 32 | 29 38.1 
oueuere. “Pe: 13 sis a ee 
New Brunswick 153 131 Lyy.2 
Nova Scotia — | 37 3b 32.9 
Prince Edward Island _29 51 40,0 
Eastern Canada | 264 256 268.5 
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