October 30th, 2019 – Aerial Waterfowl Inventory Blog

We flew the waterfowl survey on Monday, October 28th, just 4 days after our previous flight.

We were fearful of the 3-day stretch of impending weather moving into the Midwest. Illinois

River valley (IRV) numbers climbed to 225,070 ducks following the central zone waterfowl

opener (October 26th), which was up 16% from last week but still 18% below the 10-yr average

(274,298 ducks). We observed the full gamut of species with mallards, northern pintail, green-

wings, and northern shovelers being most abundant. As expected, Mississippi River valley

(CMRV) duck numbers jumped 63% from last week and stand at 178,255 total ducks. Similar to

the IRV, mallards, pintail, and gadwall were the dominant species. These numbers should

increase substantially when duck season opens in Missouri’s north (November 2nd) and central

(November 9th) zones.

With all of the northern pintails (Anas acuta) around this week, I decided to highlight them.

Pintail (or sprigs) are highly prized by waterfowl hunters due to their quality table fare and

impeccable beauty. Their long necks help with identification of these birds in flight, and the

excessively long central tail feathers of breeding males can protrude 4 inches from the other

rectrices.

Pintails usually orient themselves towards the plane as we cruise by, and their white chests stand

out like “headlights in a parking lot following a nighttime sporting event.” I often comment to

my pilot – “headlights” as we fly past a flock.

Pintails are early migrants and their numbers peak in late October and early November in the

IRV and CMRV. According to our aerial surveys, northern pintails are more abundant now

along the IRV and CMRV than at any time since 1948.

I hope many of you get a chance to see this elegant bird and maybe even a chance to harvest one.

This week I reached out to a couple of friends for some quality of photos. Kudos to Ryan

Askren (https://www.ryanaskren.com/), Jeff Moore (http://www.jeffmooreimages.net/), and Doug

Blodgett for the pictures. Good luck chasing those tail feathers. For more information about the

waterfowl survey, check out our webpage at www.bellrose.org. Stay tuned for more updates

next week…….

Decade AVG Decade AVG

1948 to 1957 48,898 1948 to 1957 64,095

1958 to 1967 34,329 1958 to 1967 23,706

1968 to 1977 17,271 1968 to 1977 71,023

1978 to 1987 34,261 1978 to 1987 69,315

1988 to 1997 27,970 1988 to 1997 31,782

1998 to 2008 32,432 1998 to 2008 43,051

2009 to 2018 62,114 2009 to 2018 82,928

Northern Pintail Peaks Illinois River Northern Pintail Peaks Mississippi River