Good News for this Fall

Duck Brood Index Up from Last Year

 

North Dakota's 2005 fall duck flight is expected to be up from 2004 and similar to the fall flights of 1999-2000, according to Mike Johnson, migratory game bird management supervisor for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.



The 2005 brood index from the department's annual mid-July survey was up 38 percent from last year, and 140 percent above the 1955-2004 average. Average brood size was 7.1 ducklings, up 0.7 from last year. The long term average is 7.2 ducklings per brood. The water index observed during the survey was up 37 percent from 2004, and 96 percent above the long-term average.



Average age of broods was similar to the long-term average, Johnson said. Brood survey results, Johnson expects, may be somewhat low due to tall dense vegetative cover on many wetlands.



The index does not count every water body or duckling in the state. Instead, representative transects across the state are sampled each year. Over time, survey results provide biologists with trend information that allows annual comparisons of waterfowl production in the state.