The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Monday released its 2019 “Trends in Duck Breeding Populations” report after several months of aerial surveys in the birds’ traditional northern nesting grounds.
Overall, the survey showed a mixed bag, with some species up and many others down.
The total number of estimated ducks, at 38.9 million, is 6 percent below the 2018 survey while remaining 10 percent above the long-term average.
Mallard numbers are estimated at 9.423 million, up 2 percent from a year ago.
Gadwall numbers saw the largest increase in population size, from 2.9 million a year ago to 3.26 million this summer. That’s a bump of 13 percent.
American wigeon numbers remained statistically similar to last year’s at 2.83 million, and green-winged teal saw a slight increase of 4 percent to 3.2 million.
Every other major species saw a decline in numbers, according to the USFWS report.
Blue-winged teal are down 16 percent to 5.42 million, while northern shoveler numbers fell 13 percent to 3.65 million.
Northern pintails, which saw a nice bump in their numbers last year, are down again this year, to the tune of 4 percent. The pintail estimate was 2.27 million, which is 42 percent below the long-term average.
Canvasback numbers fell 5 percent to 0.65 million, and the scaup population dropped 10 percent to 3.6 million.
The largest decline in duck numbers was seen with redheads, falling 27 percent to 0.73 million birds.
Black ducks are barely mentioned in the report, though it is noted they were counted only in the Eastern U.S. and were up 5 percent.
The USFWS report, which prominently features a male wood duck on its cover, ironically does not mention wood ducks, but that’s probably because most of them are hatched in the swamps and river bottoms farther south than the traditional survey areas.
Habitat conditions, according to USFWS personnel, were similar or slightly worse than last year. Many areas of Canada were drier than normal, while parts of the Dakotas had more ponds available to nesting ducks.