Delta Waterfowl’s Predator Management Program Adds Ducks to Fall Flight

BISMARCK, N.D. — Delta Waterfowl’s professional trappers once again are hard at work this spring to remove predators from the landscape to boost duck production.

Predator Management gives nesting ducks a better chance to hatch ducklings in areas where egg-eating predators are abundant. Five Predator Management blocks in North Dakota were strategically selected for this spring’s effort, which past research shows will triple nest success and add ducks to the fall flight.Image by gnatoutdoors.com

“We’re expanding on Delta’s mission to significantly increase duck production through Predator Management,” said Joel Brice, Delta Waterfowl’s vice president of waterfowl and hunter recruitment programs. “We estimate that the Prairie Pothole Region has an additional 180 sites ideal for trapping — areas with a lot of wetlands and little nesting cover.”

Based on two decades of research to fine-tune the efficiency of Predator Management, Delta trappers target intensively farmed areas with limited nesting cover. Nesting hens and their eggs in such habitat are especially susceptible to red foxes, skunks, raccoons and mink.

Last spring, results from a grassland-only trapping approach — only trapping nesting cover areas — showed that Predator Management improves nest success rates as much as trapping both the perimeter and nesting cover areas of entire township-sized block. Many habitat blocks on the prairie have a low amount of grassland cover — some only 10 percent, which concentrates duck nests and predators, too. Focusing predator removal only on grassland areas allows trappers to cover more areas and help more nesting ducks successfully hatch a brood.

Image by gnatoutdoors.com

“With every new question we ask and answer, we ensure we’re being as efficient as possible with the predator management tool as well as duck hunter dollars,” said Frank Rohwer, Delta Waterfowl president. “Landscapes and predator communities are changing all of the time, so we’re constantly monitoring hatch rates and retooling as necessary to produce as many ducks as possible.”

Predator Management research continues in Canada, with three sites in Manitoba focused on trapping to boost success for overwater nesting ducks such as canvasbacks and redheads, as well as a new grass-nesting study site in the Alberta Parklands.

“It’s our responsibility to raise ducks for our members as cost-efficiently as possible,” Brice said. “Predator Management has emerged as a tool that does just that.”

For more information, contact Joel Brice at (888) 987-3695 ext. 225 or jbrice@deltawaterfowl.org.

DU Announces Five-Year Commitment in South Dakota

MITCHELL, SD – Ducks Unlimited is pledging to spend $1.8 million dollars on conservation programs in South Dakota in each of the next five years. DU is promising its continued investment in protecting and restoring the best-of-the-best waterfowl habitat in the Prairie Pothole Region of South Dakota.

The announcement comes in support of South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard’s work to develop a conservation fund.

“We believe Gov. Daugaard shows great leadership in his proposal to dedicate $1.5 million for conservation. We support his plan to create a fund that will help improve pheasant numbers while also providing habitat for waterfowl,” said Jeff Heidelbauer of Custer, DU regional vice president and member of the national board of directors.

DU made the announcement at a news conference held in conjunction with DU’s South Dakota state convention. Nathan Sanderson, director of policy and operations for the governor’s office, also spoke to the group about the governor’s commitment to conservation.

“In South Dakota, hunting and enjoying the outdoors is not just a pastime, it’s part of our identity,” Sanderson said. “Gov. Daugaard understands that adequate habitat is essential to maintaining our wildlife populations, so we can preserve this true South Dakota tradition for generations to come.”

Tom Kirschenmann, terrestrial resources chief for South Dakota Game Fish and Parks, says South Dakota pheasant declines have centered on several factors, including the habitat it relies on to fulfill its annual life-cycle. “While pheasants have remained the focus of these discussions, it has certainly served as a spring-board to elevate the overall awareness for wildlife habitat,” Kirschenmann said. “Conservation partners working together can meet several objectives as many wildlife species benefit from habitat work. No better example exemplifies that relationship than a wetland and grassland project. While these habitats are vital to waterfowl production, they can be equally important to resident wildlife for nesting and winter cover.”

Ducks Unlimited has been working with South Dakota landowners and agencies conserving wetlands and grasslands since 1984. A waiting list of South Dakota landowners who are interested in one conservation program to protect habitat now stands at about 400.

“South Dakota landowners are very interested in conservation. All federal conservation programs in the state are over-subscribed, meaning there is more interest than money available,” said Steve Donovan, DU manager of conservation programs for South Dakota. “Clearly we need more investment to meet this need. That is why the Governor’s investment is so important. We hope others will support the governor’s effort and help us find the dollars needed to conserve this important resource.”

Ducks Unlimited Inc. is the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to conserving North America’s continually disappearing waterfowl habitats. Established in 1937, Ducks Unlimited has conserved more than 13 million acres thanks to contributions from more than a million supporters across the continent. Guided by science and dedicated to program efficiency, DU works toward the vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever. For more information on our work, visit www.ducks.org. Connect with us on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ducksunlimited, follow our tweets at www.twitter.com/ducksunlimitedand watch DU videos at www.youtube.com/ducksunlimitedinc.

A Shifting Flock: Teal, Gadwalls, Shovelers Thriving

BISMARCK, N.D. – Anticipation for the upcoming duck season is soaring after last month’s release of the 2014 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey estimated a record 49.2 million ducks.

Hunters should be excited. At 10.9 million, mallards registered the second highest tally in the history of the survey that has been conducted annually since 1955. Good water conditions across much of the key breeding range should result in a lot of young ducks winging south this fall.

 

However, the mix of duck species over your decoys this fall might be a bit different than in the past. Mallards are still the most abundant duck. Not so long ago, pintails and bluebills rounded out North America’s top three most common ducks. Not anymore.

In 2014, mallards, blue-winged teal (8.54 million) and northern shovelers (5.28 million) occupied the top three spots in the spring breeding survey. Bluebills (4.61 million) have been bumped to the fourth-most abundant duck among the survey species, while pintails have plummeted from second to seventh. The breeding pintail population has fallen to 3.22 million, less than a third of what it was at its high point of 10.37 million in 1956.

Meanwhile gadwalls, which were the eighth-most abundant in 1956 at less than 800,000, have surged up the list to fifth most abundant on the strength of a 2014 breeding population of 3.81 million.

So how did three species – blue-winged teal, shovelers and gadwall – that once comprised 19 percent of the total breeding population, increase in abundance so their numbers now make up 36 percent?

They are species that have benefited the most from changes to the landscape in the U.S. prairies, particularly the eastern Dakotas.

“Bluewings, spoonies and gadwalls are true prairie nesters, and are hardwired to nest in the Prairie Pothole Region,” said John Devney, Delta Waterfowl vice president of U.S. policy. “With the presence of grassland cover from Conservation Reserve Program acres, a long period of largely favorable wetland conditions, and the scarcity of red fox, the eastern Dakotas has turned into a hotbed for these ducks.”

While prairie Canada has historically been the Holy Grail for breeding ducks, the ongoing losses of the small wetlands that drive duck production has taken a toll. The eastern Dakotas, meanwhile, have boomed because of CRP and a wet cycle lasting the better part of two decades.

Ducks such as gadwalls, blue-winged teal and northern shovelers have benefited to the point they now outnumber ducks such as pintails, that 60 years ago, were much more prevalent.

For more information, contact John Devney, vice president of U.S. policy (888) 987-3695 ext. 218, jdevney@deltawaterfowl.org