Duck Numbers at Record High

As had been expected, a wet "Duck Factory" in the Prairie Pothole Region of the northern U.S. and southern Canada has led to a strong breeding effort this spring by most of the major duck species that wing south each fall across North America.

That was confirmed today with the release of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2014 Trends in Duck Breeding Populations report.

Based upon the recent breeding population and habitat surveys conducted across more than two million square miles of waterfowl habitat across the U.S. and Canada, the Fish & Wildlife Service has placed the preliminary estimate of the 2014 breeding duck population at 49.2 million...