Each winter, during the first week of January, pilots and biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) count ducks, geese and swans along Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay shoreline and Atlantic coast. This year the survey teams counted 633,700 waterfowl, which is slightly lower than the number of waterfowl observed during that time last year (651,800).
“It is important to remember that the Maryland survey results are ultimately pooled with results from other states to provide a measure of the distribution and population size of waterfowl wintering in the Atlantic Flyway,” said Larry Hindman, DNR’s Waterfowl Project Leader. “The survey is conducted in a coordinated manner across the Atlantic Flyway to provide information on the population size for important waterfowl species like black ducks, Atlantic brant and tundra swans.”
Despite the unusually mild weather this year, the number of recorded waterfowl was only slightly lower than last winter. Overall, higher numbers of diving ducks were counted in 2012 (125,300) compared to last winter (115,100), mainly attributed to larger numbers of scaup. In contrast, the canvasback totals this year (14,300) were much lower than last winter (46,100) and were the second lowest ever recorded.
“The decline in canvasbacks was likely related to the mild winter weather in the eastern half of the United States,” said Hindman. “However, they did arrive in the Chesapeake in greater numbers after the survey was completed.”
Survey teams counted slightly fewer Canada geese (342,600) along bay shoreline habitats compared to last year (397,700). Mild temperatures, an abundance of open water and a lack of snow in the northern portion of the Atlantic flyway caused a delay in goose migration and contributed to lower numbers of wintering Canada geese in Maryland. However, like canvasbacks, substantial numbers of Canada geese arrived in Maryland after the survey was done.
The Midwinter Waterfowl Survey has been conducted annually throughout the United States since the early 1950s. The survey provides information on long-term trends in waterfowl. Maryland’s survey data is noted below.
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Species
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2008
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2009
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2010
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2011
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2012
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Mallard
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55,500
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58,300
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34,200
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55,100
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57,400
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Black Duck
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23,000
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