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Illinois hunters anxious as report shows mallards drop

In the latest federal status report, mallards were estimated at 5.9 million birds, an 11% decline from 2025 and 26% below the long-term average. (USFWS photo)

Illinois duck hunters have plenty to watch as the 2026-27 season approaches, but the latest federal waterfowl survey offers a mixed picture of the birds that will eventually make their way down the Mississippi and Illinois flyways.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s newly released 2026 Waterfowl Population Status Report estimates 33.4 million breeding ducks in the traditional survey area, essentially unchanged from 2025 but 6% below the long-term average dating to 1955. For Illinois hunters, perhaps the most important number is the mallard estimate.

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