What's New!

2009 Waterfowl Population Status Report

In cooperation with the Canadian Wildlife Service and other state, provincial, and private conservation partners, the USFWS 54th annual breeding population and habitat assessment survey is complete – and the numbers are very encouraging!

In May and June, 2009, 12 air crews flew roughly 55,000 miles of survey transects, covering over 2 million square miles of habitat across the US and Canada. Surveys and analyses are complete, view the 2009 Waterfowl Population Status Report.

Adaptive Harvest Management

The Adaptive Harvest Management Report is part of a series of reports intended to support development of harvest regulations for the 2009 hunting season. Specifically, this report is intended to provide waterfowl managers and the public with information about the use of adaptive harvest management for setting waterfowl hunting regulations in the United States. This report provides the most current data, analyses, and decision-making protocols.

Falconry regulation corrections:

The Division of Migratory Bird Management has published a Proposed Rule to correct and update the final falconry regulations published last year. The proposed changes are open for comment until August 21, 2009. You can submit comments by going to the Proposed Rule at www.regulations.gov.

Migrant peregrine falcon notice:

The Division also has published a Notice announcing the allocation of take of nestling and migrant peregrine falcons for use in falconry. The take of nestling peregrines in the western U.S. has occurred for several years. Last year the Division determined that the very limited take of 36 fall migrant first-year peregrines would not affect either the arctic-nesting tundrius subspecies or the reintroduced nesting population in the eastern U.S.

Migratory Bird Hunting Activity and Harvest During the 2007 and 2008 Hunting Seasons

Over 13.7 million ducks were harvested in the United States during the 2008-2009 waterfowl hunting season, according to preliminary estimates by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Hunting Activity and Harvest report. Duck harvest was down from 14.6 million harvest numbers from the previous season. More than 3.8 million geese were harvested, an increase of 120,000 from the 2007-2008 season. Canada Geese were the most prevalent goose harvested with more than 2.8 million birds taken. Snow Geese were the second most popular goose species harvested, with nearly 560,000 taken nationally.

The Service compiles the harvest report each year to publish estimates of hunting activity and harvest for all migratory game bird species in each state, flyway, and the entire United States. The crucial information that hunters provide each year helps to ensure that our migratory bird resources--and hunting tradition--will be around for future generations to enjoy.

2009 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey

The preliminary estimate of total ducks from the 2009 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey was 42 million, which is 13 percent greater than last year’s estimate and 25 percent greater than the 1955-2008 average.

The Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey samples more than two million square miles of waterfowl habitat across the north-central and northeastern United States, south-central, eastern, and northern Canada, and Alaska. The survey estimates the number of ducks on the continent's primary nesting grounds.

Trends in Duck Breeding Populations, 1955-2009
July 1, 2009

Mourning Dove, White-winged Dove, and Band-tailed Pigeon, 2009 Population Status

This report summarizes information on the abundance and harvest of Mourning Doves collected annually in the United States, the White-winged Dove populations in Arizona and summarizes information on the abundance and harvest of Band-tailed Pigeons collected annually in the western United States and British Columbia.

Annual Report

American Woodcock
Population Status, 2009

International Migratory Bird Day is an invitation to celebrate and support migratory bird conservation!

Typically held on the second Saturday in May (May 9 in 2009), IMBD is celebrated whenever migratory bird arrival is celebrated in your community.

Find out more! http://www.fws.gov/birds/imbd.html

Birds of Conservation Concern

The Division of Migratory Bird Management announces the availability of Birds of Conservation Concern 2008.
This publication identifies species, subspecies, and populations of migratory and nonmigratory birds in need of additional conservation actions. We hope to stimulate coordinated and collaborative
proactive conservation actions among Federal, State, tribal, and private partners. The species that appear in Birds of Conservation Concern 2008 are deemed to be the highest priority for conservation actions. We anticipate that the document will be consulted by Federal agencies and their partners prior to undertaking cooperative research, monitoring, and management actions that might directly or indirectly affect migratory birds. The Notice of Availability.