BISMARCK, NORTH DAKOTA — Extreme snowfall last winter across central and eastern North Dakota has set up the state for good duck production this spring.
Results from North Dakota Game and Fish Department’s annual breeding waterfowl and wetland survey reveal good to excellent conditions for breeding ducks.
“We had a lot of snow last winter and ended up with our 7th-highest wetland index, which is a little bit less than last year (2nd highest ever), but still very, very good,” said Mike Szymanski, migratory game bird supervisor for the NDGFD.
The total duck number was estimated just above 3.4 million, a slight increase over the breeding population from 2022. While ducks are up overall, mallards are down 10 percent at 640,000, with blue-winged teal also slightly lower but still a strong 925,000 in the state.
Szymanski reported increases in redheads, canvasbacks, and shovelers over 2022, but the most pleasant surprise is a 40 percent increase in breeding pintails, bringing their breeding populations in North Dakota back to numbers not seen in the state since the 2000s.
While Szymanski said habitat conditions ranged from fair to excellent across North Dakota, heavy rains in key areas in early May should lead to good duck production.
THE OUTDOOR FEED 