
WATERFOWL BREEDING GROUND SURVEY IN INDIANA - 1954 
James D. McCall 
Introduction 
That part of the 1954 breeding ground survey included in this report is 
confined to the wood duck brood production on 143 miles of stream transects, and 
to water conditions in the pothole nesting habitat of northern Indiana. Brood 
census techniques were essentially the same as those described in the 1953 report. 
In addition, 65 rough lumber wood duck boxes were checked for usage and 
brood censusing was conducted on the Willow Slough State Game Preserve. A 
complete report on this work may be found in the October, 1954 Pittman-Robertson 
Quarterly Progress Report. 
The study leader was assisted on the river floats by conservation officers 
and Pittman-Robertson personnel. 
Weather and Water Conditions 
Drought conditions still prevailed during the early part of 1954. The 
cumulative effects of continued dry weather resulted in some of the lowest January 
riverstages in years. February weather was mild with near normal precipitation. 
March was dry and cold with precipitation averaging 1.05 inches below normal. The 
first few days of April were cold with temperatures being recorded as low as 412° F 
in the northern Indiana. However, temperatures moderated by the 6th, and April 
1954 averaged 5. 7° F above normal. Pothole nesting habitat in northern Indiana 
received 4.50 inches of precipitation in April, which is 1.23 inches above normal. 
It was during April that open water started to reappear in potholes and marshes 
that had been dry for months. Precipitation during May and June were below normal, 
however, a heavy rain on July 6th and 7th, unoffically gauged in LaGrange County at 
over 3 inches, was encouraging. This rain was general in nature covering a major 
part of the pothole and lake region of northern Indiana. 
Water levels continued to rise through mid-July for an average gain of 
approximately one foot. Of 17 pothole study areas checked for water levels during 
the fourth week of June, 29 percent were still dry, another 29 percent were less than 
two thirds full, and 42 percent were normal. Thirty-five percent of these areas 
were dry by the end of June, 1953. 
Wood Duck Brood Production 
Difficulty has been experienced in the past in censusing breeding pairs as 
a basis for predicting brood production in Indiana. The 1954 breeding ground survey 
was therefore confined to the censusing of broods. 
