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Waterfowl Community Mourns Loss of FWS Biologists |
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Tuesday, January 19, 2010 |
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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pilot biologist Ray Bentley, 52, and his observer David Pitkin, 49, were killed when their plane crashed into a forested area near Philomath, Oregon, on January 17. The two were participating in the annual midwinter waterfowl surveys when the accident occurred. Benton County sheriff's deputies say they found the wreckage of the Cessna after it failed to arrive in Corvallis, Oregon.
Bentley was a veteran of aerial waterfowl surveys, having flown the May waterfowl breeding ground surveys in the western Dakotas and eastern Montana for eight years. Pitkin was a former FWS employee who was working the midwinter survey on contract with the Service. No information is currently available on the cause of the crash.
View Ray Bentley's flight logs and photos
USFWS News Release |
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2009 Adaptive Harvest Management Report Released |
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Friday, July 24, 2009 |
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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.
Download AHM Report |
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Status of Waterfowl Report Released |
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Thursday, July 23, 2009 |
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 Final results from the 2009 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey are now available. Preliminary reports are confirmed -- a total duck population estimate of more than 42 million birds in the traditional survey area, which is a 13 percent increase from 2008 and 25 percent above the 1955-2008 average.
View Video Report Download 2009 Report |
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Harvest Data and Reporting Features |
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 The latest Migratory Bird Hunting Activity and Harvest Report has been released, reporting that over 13.7 million ducks were harvested in the United States during the 2008-2009 waterfowl hunting season, down from 14.6 million from the previous season. The number of harvested geese however, increased by 120,000 from the 2007-2008 season, with a total of 3.8 million harvested nationally in 2008-2009.
In addition to downloading the report, you can also generate a custom harvest trends report to view the information that is important to you quickly and easily. The reporting tool has been expanded to provide you with more options for narrowing or expanding the scope of your results. Now, in addition to viewing harvest trends for a specific species in a specific state you can view results for all ducks or all geese on a national level or within a selected flyway, or a total of all ducks and geese at the national level. As before, results are presented in line graph format to easily illustrate harvest trends from 1961 through 2008.
Download Harvest Report
Run a Custom Harvest Trends Report |
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2009 Duck Numbers and Habitat Survey Available |
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Preliminary results for the 2009 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey are now available. The estimate of 42.0 million birds represents a 13% increase over last year’s estimate, and was 25% above the long-term average. The total pond estimate was 6.4 million, which was 45% above last year’s estimate and 31% above the long-term average. Note: Estimates sometimes change between the preliminary numbers and final results.
Read News Release
View Pond Numbers
View Duck Numbers
Download Trends Report |
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Habitat Conditions Map Available |
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U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service pilot biologists flew thousands of survey miles over the northern U.S. and Canada in May and June, and have submitted reports on habitat conditions. What they learned will help waterfowl managers gauge the status of waterfowl populations and form the basis for setting waterfowl hunting seasons this fall.
View 2009 Map |
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Biologists have Taken to the Skies to Conduct Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey |
 Pilot biologists have taken to the skies, looking for waterfowl. This year, 12 air crews and associated ground crews will be traversing the northern U.S. and Canada to survey waterfowl breeding populations and habitat conditions. Surveys will continue through mid-June. Check back for updates from the biologists. Read Pilot Biologist Reports |
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Surveys and Monitoring 