seen by the aerial crews. Methods of 
measuring the proportion of birds present 
that are seen are being developed, but these 
studies have not progressed to the point 
where visibility factors can be determined 
throughout the breeding range. Since there is 
no attempt to estimate the number of birds 
not seen, the indexes presented in this 
report are based on birds actually seen, and 
it is emphasized that they do not constitute 
estimates of the total numbers present. 
Results of the May survey of the breeding 
population and of the later production survey 
when combined form the basis for fore- 
casts of changes in the relative size of the 
fall flight of ducks and coot in the three 
Flyways from the Mississippi Flyway west- 
5 
ward. It is not possible to rely on the 
breeding-ground information to the same 
degree in the Atlantic Flyway as in the 
other Flyways, primarily because of the 
lack of survey data from Quebec and 
Labrador, which are important contributors 
of birds to that Flyway. 
The breeding-ground surveys are cooper - 
ative in nature. The Bureau of Sport Fish- 
eries and Wildlife, the Canadian Wildlife 
Service and the Provincial game branches, 
Ducks Unlimited, and the State con- 
servation agencies combine their equip- 
ment and manpower to conduct the 
necessary surveys throughout the vast 
extent of the waterfowl breeding 
range. 
BANDING 
Banding is a powerful tool in waterfowl 
research. It provides information on the 
relation between production and wintering 
and harvest areas which makes possible the 
prediction of the influence that the population 
changes, determined from the breeding 
ground and wintering ground surveys, will 
have on waterfowl using various harvest 
areas. Band-recovery data also provide 
valuable information on survival rates, 
effects of regulations onthe kill, importance 
of hunting as a mortality factor, and the 
relative shooting pressures to which various 
ages, sexes, and species are subjected. 
Very little banding data are available for 
inclusion in this status report due to com- 
plications associated with the loss of rec- 
ords resulting from a fire on June 13, 
1959, at the Patuxent Wildlife Research 
Center. Each of the major banding programs 
will be discussed, however, and a few per- 
tinent examples of data summaries given. 
It is anticipated that status reports infuture 
years will include current results from each 
of these banding programs. 
BREEDING GROUND BANDING 
The primary objective of the breeding 
ground banding program is to determine 
distribution of the hunting kill of birds 
produced in each major breeding area. To 
accomplish this objective, it is necessary 
to confine banding to birds known to have 
been produced near or to breed near the 
locality of banding. Therefore the banding 
program has emphasized the banding of 
"locals,'' or the immature birds that are 
too young to fly. 
The following table illustrates the infor- 
mation obtained from this program. It shows 
the distribution of direct (first hunting 
season) recoveries from mallards banded as 
flightless immatures (locals) in the three 
highly important Prairie Provinces of Can- 
ada. This table also shows why the results 
of banding frequently cannot be logically 
segregated by Flyways, since it is usualfor 
recoveries from a given breeding area tobe 
taken in two or more Flyways. 
Distribution among Canada and the four Flyways in the 
United States of direct band recoveries from mallards 
banded as flightless young, 1953-60 







Distribution (percent) of re- 
coveries from bandings in-- 
Saskatchewan | Manitoba 

Harvest area 
Pacific Flyway--------- 
Central Flyway--------- 
Mississippi Flyway----- 
Atlantic Flyway-------- 
Note.--A few birds banded before 1953 may be included 
in the data. 
