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Continued improvement in waterfowl habitat is bearing results. Waterfowl enthusiasts should see the biggest fall flight this year of any season since records have been kept.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated 43.8 million breeding ducks this spring in the area it surveys. That is the highest number of ducks since the survey began in 1955, 12 percent higher than last year and 34 percent over the long-term average.
Mallards, the species most popular with hunters in Idaho, numbered 11.1 million birds, 15 percent higher than last year and 51 percent above the long-term average. Most other species were also higher with the two species of teal at record highs. Gadwall and redheads showed slight declines. Pintail and scaup, species that have been in a worrisome decline for years, both showed improved numbers of breeding pairs with pintails up 21 percent from last year.
Idaho hunters may have less to cheer about than most others in the country because the one spot in the prairie breeding grounds that had less than excellent moisture was southwest Alberta. That area of Canada generally supplies the bulk of Idaho^s northern flight.
Mild winters during the last two duck hunting season in Idaho severely limited the success of waterfowlers here. Weather patterns can be more important in the number of ducks actually seen in Idaho than the overall breeding count.
Ducks Unlimited Executive Vice President Matt Connolly said this year^s impressive duck numbers are "an excellent indication that the North American Waterfowl Management Plan is working. This is an encouraging sign for those who have held firmly to the fundamental principle of conservation—that habitat is the key to healthy populations of ducks and other wildlife."
Uploaded: 7/23/1999
Uploaded: 7/23/1999