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Factors Associated with Duck Nest Success
in the Prairie Pothole Region of Canada

Nest Success by Habitat

Nest success estimates by habitat class for all of the 5 common species combined, and averaged over all area-years, ranged from 2% in Cropland to 25% in Woodland (Table 9). Average annual estimates tended to be similar in 1982, 1983, and 1985, but were lower in 1984. We pooled our annual estimates for Grass and Brush from Table 9 and averaged them to obtain an estimate of nest success for grassland (Cowardin et al. 1988). Unweighted average annual estimates of nest success in grassland were 21% (1982), 19% (1983), 9% (1984), and 20% (1985); the average estimate for grassland was 17%. We did not compare nest success by habitat class on individual study areas because we previously excluded habitat interactions in the model used for estimating DSR's (Appendix C). We provide these estimates to demonstrate the range in nest success for various habitat categories.

Table 9. Average estimates of nest success (%) by habitat and year for 5 common species of dabbling ducks combined (mallard, gadwall, blue-winged teal, northern shoveler, and northern pintail) on study areas (n) in the Prairie Pothole Region of Canada.
Year n Nest success (%)
Cropland Grass Brush Wetland Hayland Woodland Right- of-way Odd areaa
1982 3 2 19 23 18 24b 28b 10 13
1983 8 2 17 21b 17 15b 26b 9 11
1984c 10 1 8 10b 8 10b 18b 4 6
1985c 10 2 18 22b 19 21b 29b 10 12
Mean - 2 15 19 16 18 25 8 11
aOdd area included patches of cover <2ha in size and an array of features usually found in Cropland (e.g., rock   piles, gravel borrow pits, narrow borders of upland vegetation around Wetland and along fences between areas   of Cropland).
bNest success estimate is based on fewer than indicated number of study areas because habitat was not   available on all study areas (Table 2).
cNest success estimates are based on fewer than 5 species because breeding populations of some species were   not detected on some study areas (Tables 1-5 of Appendix A).
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