WING COLLECTION SURVEY 
There was no mail collection of wings 
from hunters in the Pacific Flyway during 
either the 1959-60 or the 1960-61 hunting 
season. Mallard and pintail wings were col- 
lected by Bureau and State personnel ata 
number of harvest areas within the Flyway, 
however, during both seasons to obtain 
information to supplement that obtained 
directly from hunters in the Mississippi 
WINTER 
FACTORS AFFECTING SURVEY 
Data collected during the 1960 and 1961 
winter surveys in the Pacific Flyway are 
reasonably comparable, although inclement 
weather and fog conditions in the Central 
Valley of California and in western Wash- 
ington delayed completion of the 1961 survey 
as scheduled. Continuous fog in southeastern 
Washington made it necessary to cancel 
aerial flights along the Snake River, and 
it was not possible to take aerial photo- 
graphs of concentration areas inthe Central 
Valley of California. The total wintering 
habitat is not completely covered in Alaska 
and British Columbia; weather conditions 
during early January make aerial surveys 
difficult in these areas. Feasibility of 
comparable coverage each year determines 
the areas selected for census. In the rest 
of the United States and in Mexico, an 
effort is made to cover all important 
concentration areas completely. 
POPULATION TRENDS 
The total number of ducks in the Pacific 
Flyway changed very little in 1961 as com- 
pared with 1960, and no significant changes 
occurred among any of the important 
species. Geese increased 24 percent over 
and Atlantic Flyways. Wings from both 
Species indicated a general increase in the 
ratio of young to adult birds in the kill 
during the 1960-61 hunting season, 
Suggesting that, particularly for the pin- 
tail, production was higher in 1960 
than in 1959. The results of these collec- 
tions are summarized in table B-2 
(p. 55). 
SURVEY 
their numbers of the previous year and 
reached the highest numbers recorded in 
the past 13 years. All species of geese 
increased, but Canada and snow geese in- 
creased more than white-fronted and 
cackling geese. Although the number of 
Ross's geese recorded during the survey 
decreased, special censuses have shown 
increases in this species in recent years. 
During the mid-February survey of Ross's 
geese this year, 23,050 birds were 
recorded --the highest figure tallied since. 
special surveys for this species were begun 
in 1955. Coot increased considerably and 
nearly reached the peak numbers of recent 
years, recorded in 1954, Black brant in- 
creased for the second consecutive year 
and the downward trend in its numbers 
between 1952 and 1959 seems to have been 
reversed. 
The winter survey data for the Pacific 
Flyway are presented in tables and figures 
in appendix C. Table C-2 (p. 62) presents 
comparative data for 1960 and 1961, by 
species. Tables C-3 and C-4 (p. 63) and 
figures C-1 through C-5 (p, 70-74) give com- 
parative data for the past several years. 
As explained elsewhere, there are problems 
concerning comparability of coverage during 
the period which makes certain adjustments 
necessary before population trends can be 
established. 
