Migratory Bird Improvements:The Future is Now

Essay by chriswake22College, UndergraduateA, December 2007

download word file, 7 pages 4.0

Year after year, hunters and conservationists seem to agree on one issue regarding waterfowl in North America , that the overall duck and geese population is on a rapid decline (Graham). There was a time when all these people did was sit back, watch, and hope that the next year would bring a better duck population. That time is gone, as multitudes of programs and research is underway in an effort to learn more about migrating ducks and geese. Wildlife programs such as Ducks Unlimited and the National Wildlife Federation are doing their part in helping reverse the cycle, and are essential in the continued growth, preservment, and enjoyment of water fowling throughout North America for centuries to come.

In the 1930s, untold acres of wetland habitat vanished due to droughts of dry weather, taking with them the promise of generations of waterfowl. A few years later, a small group of conservationists realized that the majority of North America's waterfowl breed in the Canadian prairies, and organized to raise money in the United States for waterfowl conservation in Canada (Ducks Unlimited). This was the beginning of the conservation program Ducks Unlimited, and many programs like it were formed in similar ways. These programs are essential because issues such as climate change, habitat deterioration, and over hunting have continued to hurt the waterfowl population.

Wildfowlers have long been obsessed with the weather. After all, nothing has more impact on the fortunes of duck hunters than ice, open water, and wind. With global warming being a key issue in the world of weather, a lack of rain throughout the Central, Atlantic, and Mississippi flyway could result in a diminished duck population (Louisiana Wildlife Federation). Coastal marshes are likely to lose birds as wetland losses build up. Warmer winters will...