STUDIES OF WATERFOWL IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: BALDPATE

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Abstract
A relatively large population of Mareca americana winters on the Coastal Plain, almost exclusively along the coast line when meadow flood ponds and sloughs farther inland are sealed by frost. A winter population in the interior is small in numbers and irregular in occurrence. Nesting grounds are in the interior only, from the Okanagan Valley and Kamloops–Nicola region, where the species is scarce, to as far north at least as the Haines Road in the northwest section of the Province. The most productive nesting grounds are in the Cariboo Parklands and the Lakes District near Vanderhoof. The main spring migration of transients through the central interior takes place during the last two weeks of April and by early May a breeding population is established on the many sloughs and ponds of the nesting range. Dry Carex meadows bordering certain water areas is the preferred nesting habitat. It is usual for the full clutch of eggs to be laid not later than June 15. In the Cariboo Parklands the average number of young in 10 June broods was 7.0, the average of 75 July broods was 6.2, and the average of 14 August broods was 5.2. In the Lakes District near Vanderhoof the average number of young in 37 broods during July and August was 7.0. Females with broods habitually frequent the open water of marsh ponds, lake bays, and marsh-edged rivers. Here, if approached by man, they vigorously defend their young by ruses to attract attention from them. Short, successive flights in front of a moving canoe, and splashing across the water in a direction leading away from the young are examples of behavior at this time. Postbreeding males associated in flocks on open water often accompany rafts of postbreeding coots and diving ducks. Aquatic insects is the chief item in the diet of downy young. Adults feed principally on the foliage of aquatic plants, grasses, algae, and seeds of aquatic plants, in that order. Insects are eaten in relatively small amounts. The baldpate may, under certain conditions and in certain localities, destroy cultivated forage plants. It is an important game duck and, because of its almost exclusive vegetable diet, highly palatable. Revenue derived from the hunting of baldpate, and the economic value of its flesh for human food, more than compensate for any economic loss resulting from crop destruction.

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