MEMPHIS, Tenn. – -(AmmoLand.com)- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) today released its report on 2022 Waterfowl Population Status, based on surveys conducted in May and early June by FWS, Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS), and other partners.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last FWS duck breeding population survey was released in 2019.
Total populations were estimated at 34.2 million breeding ducks in the traditional survey area, 12 percent lower than 2019’s estimate of 38.9 million and 4 percent below the long-term average (since 1955).
“Although the beneficial effects of timely precipitation during late winter and spring were evident by high pond counts across the eastern prairies, the total duck estimate in the Traditional Survey Area was the lowest in nearly 20 years,” said DU Chief Scientist Dr. Steve Adair. “The drop in duck numbers reflects the consequences of low production caused by multiple years of prairie drought, including 2021, which was one of the most severe and widespread in nearly 4 decades. But the survey revealed some bright spots for duck populations and provided optimism for good production this summer and carry-over of favorable pond conditions into fall and winter.”
The breeding surveys that evolved into the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey (WBPHS) began in 1947. The primary purpose of the WBPHS is to provide information on spring population size and trajectory for 19 North American duck species, or species groups, Canada Geese, American Coot and swans, and to evaluate habitat conditions in Prairie-Parkland Canada, through the counting of waterfowl breeding ponds.
“DU’s science team will take some time to digest this report and will soon be sharing more detailed analysis of survey
