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Final results from the 2010 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey are now available. Preliminary reports are confirmed -- a total duck population estimate of nearly 41 million birds in the traditional survey area, which is similar to the 2009 tally and 21 percent above the long term average.

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This hard copy report provides waterfowl managers and the public with information about the use of Adaptive Harvest Management for setting waterfowl regulations in the United States.

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The latest Migratory Bird Hunting Activity and Harvest Report has been released, reporting that over 13.1 million ducks were harvested in the United States during the 2009-2010 waterfowl hunting season, down from 13.6 million from the previous season. The number of harvested geese also decreased somewhat, from about 3.8 million harvested in the 2008-2009 season to 3.3 million harvested nationally in the 2009-2010 season.

In addition to downloading the full report, you can also generate custom harvest trends reports to quickly and easily view the information that is important to you. With these custom reports, you can view harvest trends for a specific species in a specific state; or you can view results for all ducks or all geese on a national level or within a selected flyway; or you can see the total of all ducks and geese at the national level. Results from these custom reports are presented in line graph format to easily illustrate harvest trends from 1961 through 2009. To view harvest activity reports for previous years, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Management website.

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Since 1986, the North American Waterfowl Management Plan has served as a model for international conservation of natural resources. The Plan is currently being reviewed and updated to better meet the needs and conservation objectives of the waterfowl management community.

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The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service has released a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), on the setting of annual regulations permitting the hunting of migratory birds. Published in the Federal Register on July 9, 2010, the draft SEIS proposes adjusting the process for authorizing migratory bird hunting in accordance with the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

Preliminary results for the 2010 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey are now available. The estimate of 40.9 million birds is similar to last year’s estimate of 42.0 million, and was 21% above the long-term average. The total pond estimate was 6.7 million, which was similar to last year’s estimate and 34% above the long-term average. Habitat conditions were characterized by average to below-average moisture and a mild winter and early spring across the entire traditional (including the northern locations) and eastern survey areas. Note: Estimates sometimes change between the preliminary numbers and final results.

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While the spring waterfowl population survey results are expected to indicate that population sizes of most duck species and breeding habitat conditions are good this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service remains "very concerned" about the impacts of of the gulf coast oil spill. With millions of waterfowl and other migratory birds beginning their fall migration to wintering and stopover habitat along the Gulf Coast in just a few weeks, those impacts will continue to be monitored and taken into account when establishing hunting frameworks for the upcoming season.

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The First Day of Sale event for the 2010-2011 Federal Duck Stamp and Junior Duck Stamp is June 25, 2010. Since 1934, the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp ("Duck Stamp") has provided nearly 700 million dollars for habitat conservation.

When pilot biologist Fred Roetker and observer Caleb Spiegel touched down in Minnesota on June 10, the 2010 Habitat and Breeding Population Survey drew to a close for another year. The dedicated pilots and survey crews really outdid themselves this year, sharing more photos than ever, and even submitting a few "bird's-eye" video clips of what they were seeing as they criss-crossed the "Duck Factory" in May and June. You can access all of the pilot biologist reports for some early insight into the waterfowl and habitat conditions that will be used to develop population estimates that will eventually determine fall hunting regulations. Conditions varied across the flyways of course, but in general, an early spring throughout much of Canada and the northern US should bode well for waterfowl reproduction.

I hope this video gives you a perspective of what we see while counting waterfowl on survey transect. We fly “low and slow” by aviation standards, but at 90 knots you have to be constantly scanning the survey area to locate, count and identify waterfowl within the transect boundary. We count all waterfowl within 200 meters on both sides of the plane. You will notice black stripes on the aircraft wing strut. We use a clinometer to set these marks as a guide to how far out we count when at survey altitude. At 150 feet above the ground, when you look out the window, the bottom strip corresponds to 100 meters and the top is set at 200 meters.