More Good News

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has released its preliminary report on mid-continent breeding ducks and habitats, based on surveys conducted in May.

Overall, duck populations increased 14 percent since last year with an estimated 41.2 million breeding ducks on the surveyed area. As a result of winter snowfall and good precipitation, habitat conditions are similar or slightly improved compared to conditions in 2006.

One of the most important elements in duck breeding success is the amount of water present on the prairie breeding grounds. When the survey was conducted in May, total pond counts for the United States and Canada combined showed 7 million ponds, a 15 percent increase from last year’s estimate, and 44 percent higher than the long-term average. The mallard number is 10 percent higher than last year. An estimated 8 million mallards are on the prairies this spring, compared to last year’s estimate of 7.3 million birds. Mallard numbers are 7 percent above the long-term average.

The most positive news coming out of this year’s survey is that redheads, canvasbacks and northern shovelers are at record highs, and increases were also seen in two of three species of concern.