CENTRAL FLYWAY 
The 1954 Brood Index is alightly under 100,000, which is the 
smallest Brood Index recorded since 1950. At first glianve: it seems 
very low, especially in view of the 1954 May breeding ponutaricn Index 
of almost 5 million birds. h 
However, the 1954 nesting season got off to a very late start, 
and is still in full swing particularly in the Parklands. This could be 
one of those years when the rearing season for broods will run into 
early October. : 
The brood data suggest that the Grasslands are producing only 
a fair duck crop this season. The pintail didn't do so well on its 
first nesting attempt and its renesting seems to have lacked vigor. The 
mallard had somewhat bettwe luck in the Grasslands, but most broods 
of these two species were found in the hilly grazing lands. Apparently 
the stubblefield nesters in the ppc oae sections lost their annual 
race with the plow. 
The 1954 "Potential Later Broods" Index is slightly over 
200,000, This suggests that Saskatchewan will have a. good late hatch, 
not so strong as last year (1953 Late Brood Index was 300,000), but 
much more substantial than the late hatches of 1951 or 52. (See Table IT) 
Saskatchewan broods this year have fewer ducklings than usual. 
The average:number of ducklings per nearly-mature (Class III) broods is 
only 4.4. The Class II broods in our air records averaged 6.0 ducklings, 
while Class I's averaged 6.9 ducklings per brood. 
The 1954 season is very much retarded, and it is still too 
Sara to predict with certainty the outcome of the hatch. In this 
connection, an intensive study conducted in the vicinity of Redvers in 
the southeastern Parkland habitat type indicates that the chance for a 
substantial late hatch is practicelly nil. Nest predation has been very 
high throughout the season, and is continuing at a high rate. However, 
it is difficult to say how much of the parkland type the Redvers study 
typifies. 
Conclusions - 
There will be a noticable reduction in the size of the fall 
flight from all strata in southern Saskatchewan this year. 
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