Population status of migratory game birds in Canada (and regulation proposals for overabundant species)

Canadian hunting regulations for migratory game birds are reviewed annually by Environment Canada, with input from the provinces and territories, and a range of other interested stakeholders.As part of this process, the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) produces three reports each year.The November report "Population Status of Migratory Game Birds in Canada" contains population and other biological information on migratory game birds, and thus provides the scientific basis for management.The December report "Proposals to Amend the Canadian Migratory Birds Regulations" outlines the proposed changes to the annual hunting regulations, as well as other proposed amendments to the Migratory Birds Regulations.These two documents are distributed to organizations and individuals with an interest in migratory game bird conservation, to provide an opportunity for input to the development of hunting regulations in this country.The third report "Migratory Game Bird Hunting Regulations in Canada", issued in July summarizes the hunting regulations for the upcoming hunting season.Data presented in the November report come from a variety of sources.Breeding population estimates and trends for inland ducks are derived from large-scale systematic aerial surveys conducted annually in eastern and western Canada, and parts of the United States.Additional small-scaie, usually annual, breeding waterfowl surveys are also conducted in other parts of this country.Information on sea duck populations comes mainly from surveys limited to a few key locations or a small area of the species range, during the breeding, moulting, or wintering period.Goose population estimates and trends are derived mainly from specific annual or occasional surveys carried out during the breeding season or, in some cases, during migration.Additional information on waterfowl populations is also provided by mid-winter surveys on the wintering grounds conducted annually in the four U.S. flyways.Population information on swans and other migratory game birds is derived from specific breeding or wintering surveys, or countrywide breeding bird surveys.Harvest levels of migratory game birds in Canada and the United States are estimated through national harvest surveys and, in some cases, through species-specific surveys.Population Status of Inland Ducks Eastern Canada In eastern Canada, breeding waterfowl populations are monitored annually through the Black Duck Breeding Ground Survey.This systematic helicopter survey covers the Boreal Shield region from northeastern Ontario to Newfoundland, and the Atlantic Highlands region from the Gaspé Peninsula (Quebec) to Nova Scotia (Figure 1 ).This survey was designed primarily to provide breeding population estimates and trends for the American Black Duck, an early-nesting species.The survey has been conducted by CWS since 1990, as part of the Black Duck Joint Venture of the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (NAWMP).Additional breeding population surveys are also conducted in other parts of eastern Canada not covered by the Black Duck Breeding Ground Survey.In Prince Edward Island, an annual breeding waterfowl survey on ground plots has been in place since 1985, and is done cooperatively by CWS and the PEI Fish and Wildlife Division.In southern Ontario, a breeding waterfowl survey on ground plots has been conducted at intervals since 1971 by CWS, and was repeated in 2000.This survey will be conducted again in the spring of 2003.In this section, we summarize information on inland duck populations in eastern Canada.Discussion per province of results from the Black Duck Breeding Ground Survey can be found in Bateman and Hicks (2002), Bordage (2002), and Ross (2002). American Black DuckThere is some concern over the population abundance of American Black Ducks (Anas rubripes) in North America.Mid-winter inventories in the Atlantic and Mississippi flyways have shown an important decline in the continental population between 1955 and the early 1980s, when numbers stabilized at a low level (Figure 2).The number of black ducks counted in both flyways in winter 2002 (295,000) was 7% higher than the previous year (260,000), and is 4% above the 1992-2001 average (282,200) (Peterson 2001; Serie and Raftovich 2001).Survey results in the Atlantic Fiyway for 2001, and in the Mississippi Fiyway for 1993 and 1997, were incomplete in some states and are, therefore, not comparable with other years.Surveys of American Black Ducks on their wintering areas are useful for studying overall population trends, but they are not very effective for evaluating the status of breeding populations, because of the mixing of populations from diverse areas.In the area covered by the Black Duck Breeding Ground Survey, the number of indicated breeding pairs of American Black Ducks has increased significantly (P < 0.05) over the 1990-2002 period (Figure 3 and Tables 1 and 2; Collins, B.T Literature Cited Abraham, K. F., J. O. Leafloor and D. H. Rusch.1999a.Moult-migrant Canada Geese in northern Ontario and western James

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