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WATERFOWL BREEDING GROUND SURVEY, CALIFORNIA 
1954 
A. W. Miller, A. E. Naylor and Frank M. Kozlik* 
Introduction 
During the spring and early summer of 1954, the waterfowl breeding ground 
survey was conducted in essentially the same manner as in previous years throughout 
the principal waterfowl habitat of the State. By way of review it should be noted that 
under existing conditions the primary waterfowl production areas in California are 
in the northeast or ''Great Basin" corner of the State, and in the Sacramento Valley. 
The northeastern part of the State, including the Klamath Basin, contains 
numerous natural marshes and artifinial water impoundments. The scattered distri- 
bution of these water areas with this great basin-type region makes it impractical to 
fly aerial transects. Instead, this entire area was given complete aerial coverage of 
all water and marsh areas to determine the total numbers of breeding waterfowl. 
To obtain further information on waterfowl production in this part of the State, a nesting 
study was conducted at Mountain Meadows (Walker Reservoir). 
The Sacramento Valley is devoted to intensive agriculture with only a remnant 
of the once vast marshlands remaining. These remaining marsh and overflow lands 
are largely in private ownership and are controlled primarily by private duck clubs. 
Coupled with these remnants of marshland, the culture of rice as a commercial crop 
is responsible for a large portion of the waterfowl raised in this valley. From late 
April through the middle of September, over 290,000 acres of shallow stabilized water 
in the form of contoured rice fields are available to nesting ducks. Before the rice 
grows too high, this area can be ideally covered by aerial transect flights. Later in 
the season, however, brood counting and fall population counts are difficult to accom- 
plish due to the dense cover growth and the inaccessible nature of these areas on foot. 
In contrast to northeastern California where a variety of waterfowl species nest, the 
primary species meeting in the Sacramento Valley is the mallard. 
* Other personnel of the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Project California 
30-R, namely William Anderson, Philip H. Arend, Burton D. Collins and Eldridge 
Hunt cooperated in this study. Credit is also due Paul E. Steel and Thomas Horn of 
the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge for the gathering of the data on that area. 
