The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on July 3 released its 2025 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey Field Reports. Conducted annually from May to June, the survey spans over 2 million square miles along the U.S.-Canada border, as wildlife biologists fly transects over the survey area to observe waterfowl numbers and habitat conditions.
Biologists predict poor production in the most central parts of the survey area. Terry Liddick and Jeff Drahota said the Dakotas were “extremely dry this year,” and despite some mid-May precipitation, “many of the basins recharged by rain were unoccupied by waterfowl.” In Southern Montana, where ducks graze in the vast grasslands, spring was warm and dry, “with precipitation levels well-below average and snowpack deficits contributing to ongoing moderate to severe drought conditions,” according to surveyors Phil Thorpe and Stephen Chandler.
“Given the dry conditions and lack of natural wetlands, we expect waterfowl production to be poor over the eastern parts of the area. In western portions of this area, we anticipate fair production given slightly improved wetland conditions,” Thorpe and Chandler reported.
In Northern Montana, conditions “were much drier than the past couple of years, and many of the semi-permanent wetlands are recessional or dry,” wrote biologists Rob Spangler and Joe Sands, with some permanent wetlands at only 50-60% of capacity. Southern Alberta did have water available in larger wetlands, reservoirs and stock ponds; “however, many of the ponds that had water were overcrowded with birds,” the biologists said. Conditions improved north of Calgary and Red Deer before declining again north of Whitecourt and Lac la Biche. Fires were also active throughout Montana.
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