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Breeding numbers are at record levels for several species.
Written by Jim Low, MDC
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo
– The results of this year’s
North American Duck Breeding Population Survey are in, and the news is
excellent, beginning with news that Missouri will have a 16-day early
teal season.
The
U.S. and Canadian fish and wildlife services have conducted aerial
surveys to estimate breeding-duck numbers since 1955. The survey also
evaluates nesting habitat
conditions. The annual report of this survey provides an early look at
prospects for the coming hunting season. This year’s report estimates
total duck numbers at 48.6 million continent-wide. That is a 7-percent
increase from last year and up 43 percent from
the long-term average (LTA).
The North American population of mallards, the mainstay species for Missouri waterfowl hunters, is estimated at 10.6 million this year. That is up 15 percent from 2011 and 40 percent above the LTA. Mallard numbers have exceeded this year’s figure only twice in the past 56 years - 1958 and 1999.
The
length of Missouri’s early teal hunting season is set according to the
number of blue-winged teal recorded in the annual survey. Blue-winged
teal numbers this
year are estimated at 9.2 million. That is similar to last year’s
population. It also is 94 percent above the LTA and nearly twice the 4.7
million needed for the maximum early-season length of 16 days under
federal guidelines. This year’s early teal season
will open Sept. 8 and run through Sept. 23.
Other duck species breeding populations recorded in the 2012 survey include:
o
Gadwall, 3.6 million, similar to last year and 96 percent above LTA.
o
Pintail, 3.5 million, 22 percent below 2011 and 14 percent below LTA.
o
Green-winged teal, 3.5 million, up 20 percent from 2011 and 74 percent above LTA.
o
Wigeon, 2.1 million, similar to 2011 and 17 percent below LTA.
o
Scaup, 5.2 million, up 21 percent from last year and similar to LTA
o
Shoveler, 5 million, similar to 2011 and 111 percent above LTA.
o
Redhead, 1.3 million, similar to 2011 and 89 percent above LTA.
o
Canvasback, 800,000, similar to 2011 and 33 percent above LTA.
Doreen
Mengel, a resource scientist with the Missouri Department of
Conservation (MDC), notes that habitat conditions in the north-central
United States and central
Canada, where most of Missouri’s ducks are produced, were not as good
this year as in 2011. She says that could cut into nesting success.
However, she also noted that above-average precipitation that occurred
in prairie Canada after the survey was completed
may have improved conditions for late-nesting species, any re-nesting
attempts and for brood-rearing.
“It
would have been difficult to imagine that we would see these kinds of
waterfowl numbers 20 years ago,” says Mengel. “Having near-record duck
populations is
a testament to the hard work hunters and conservation groups have made
to restore wetland habitat on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border.
It’s reason for celebration. However, remember that weather, local
habitat conditions, and migration timing will play
major roles in shaping the 2012 teal and regular waterfowl seasons we
experience in Missouri.”
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