Winter counts of mallard in Britain, 1951-54

Abstract

This is a brief summary of a review of changes in the number of Mallard in Britain in the three winters, 1951-52, 1952-53 and 1953-54, as indicated by returns made under the Wildfowl Count Scheme. The review appeared at length in National Wildfowl Counts, 1952-1954, a report issued to all the participants in the counts. The object of the investigation was to attempt to discover the normal pattern of fluctuation in the Mallard populations in winter and to see how far changes in numbers appeared to be related to weather conditions, both in Western Europe as a whole and within different parts of Britain.