7-23 SS Duck Populations

 I got this email press release from  theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service saying  that the 2013 duck breeding population estimates  have been released and that Duck populations are still strong, and pond numbers are up. That is wonderful news but here’s the bad news. There were two contact names on the press release, each one with a phone number.  The phone number for the first person only had nine numbers instead of 10. No problem I called the second person. I got that weird sound and then this number has been disconnected. Is the government not paying its phone bill? Anyway here are the specifics that you bird hunters would like to know. Duck populations are strong, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2013 Report on Trends in Duck Breeding Populations. The preliminary estimate of total duck populations from the traditional survey area (north-central United States, south-central and northern Canada, and Alaska) is 45.6 million birds. Estimated mallard abundance is 10.4 million birds. Blue-winged teal estimated abundance is 7.7 million. The northern pintail estimate is 3.3 million. Despite a delayed spring throughout most of the traditional survey area, habitat conditions during the 2013 survey were generally improved or similar to last year due to above-average precipitation.  Now for the legal stuff…The annual survey guides the Service’s waterfowl conservation programs under authority of the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act.