Federal duck count offers hope for 2024 waterfowlers

Washington — Breeding duck numbers are up for the first time since 2015, and wetland conditions have improved across wide swathes of the all-important prairie pothole region, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2024 Waterfowl Population Status report released Tuesday.

The continental breeding population of ducks was estimated at 33.99 million, a 5% increase from last year but still 4% below the long-term average, while May pond counts, often a harbinger of breeding habitat conditions and potential production, increased by 4% (5.16 million total ponds) over last spring.

“An increased breeding population of ducks and pair counts, along with wetland habitat conditions that improved throughout May and June with good spring rains across most of the prairies, should help boost duck production,” said Frank Rohwer, president and chief scientist for Delta Waterfowl in Bismarck, N.D. “We definitely have potential bright spots for production in the eastern Dakotas and possibly in Manitoba.”

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Rohwer and other waterfowl biologists say ample spring rains in the PPR could bolster duck production for fall hunters. As Rohwer has said in the past, waterfowlers hunt the fall flight, which includes the breeding population as well as this year’s duck production.

The 2024 Waterfowl Population Status report details the results from the May Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey, conducted each May by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service since 1955. The highly anticipated report is designed to estimate the waterfowl breeding population and evaluate habitat conditions.

The results help determine season lengths, dates, and bag limits across North America’s four flyways. Based on 2024 results, the USFWS will offer hunters another liberal season framework next season.

Below are some of the report’s highlights:

• Mallards numbers increased to 6.61 million (8%), which puts the key species 16% below the long-term average and among the lowest since the 1990s.

• Wigeon increased by a whopping 55% from last year, to 2.92 million. Wigeon are 12% above the long-term average.

• Green-winged teal increased 20% from last year, to 3.01 million. They’re 38% above the long-term average.

• Scaup (also called bluebills) increased 16% to 4.07 million, but remain 17% below the long-term average.

“This year’s report suggests that some duck populations had better production last year than expected,” said Dr. Steve Adair, chief scientist for Ducks Unlimited.

According to the report, four prairie-nesting puddle duck species dropped this year. Gadwalls declined 11% to 2.28 million but remain 11% above their long-term average. Blue-winged teal dropped 12% to 4.6 million, which is 10% below their long-term average. Shovelers were down 7% to 2.65 million. Pintails declined 11% to 1.98 million, with every region in the PPR posting a decrease.

Pintail bag limit to increase in 2025-26

According to Delta Waterfowl, despite the decrease in the pintail breeding population, the USFWS is implementing a new “integrated hunter interim harvest strategy” that will go into effect for the 2025-26 hunting season.

Based on a breeding population just shy of 2 million pintails, waterfowl hunters in all four flyways will be allowed to harvest three pintails daily next hunting season. The bag limit for the 2024-25 season remains one pintail in the lower 48 states.

Diving ducks

Two popular diving ducks, canvasbacks and redheads, declined this spring. Canvasbacks fell 8% to 566,000, which is 4% below the long-term average. Redheads declined 16% to 782,00, which is 6% above the long-term average.

Minnesota

Minnesota’s 2024 Waterfowl Breeding Population Survey was conducted by the Minnesota DNR in May and released last week. The estimate of overall duck abundance (excluding scaup) was 387,000 ducks, which was 20% below the 2023 estimate, 35% below the 10-year average estimate, and 37% below the long-term average estimate. The estimated mallard breeding population was 141,000, which was down from the 2023 estimate of 222,000. Mallard numbers were 41% below the 10-year average and 38% below the long-term average of 229,000 breeding mallards.

The early teal and Canada goose seasons open Sunday, Sept. 1 in Minnesota. The regular waterfowl opener is Sept. 21. For more information visit the Minnesota DNR website.

Eastern survey area

Habitat conditions were good to excellent across most of the Eastern Survey Area, and breeding duck numbers there are strong. Five of the six species posted in the report’s tables increased, led by a 42% increase in goldeneyes, a 20% jump in green-winged teal, and a 17% rise in black ducks.

Ring-necked ducks were up 9%, with mergansers posting a 1% increase. Mallards decreased 4% to 1.17 million but remain above the threshold for a four-mallard daily bag limit for the 2025-2026 season.

While the number of total ducks in the Traditional Survey Area increased slightly over 2023, all of the gains were in the far north and west. Just three survey regions (out of eight) posted increases. The Central and Northern Alberta/Northeast British Columbia/Northwest Territories estimated 11.25 million ducks, up 35% and 49% above the long-term average for the region.