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| A
letter to concerned waterfowlers from
Madduck Publisher Peter
Stent. Click here to read. |
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Biology
Archive
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A Reprieve for the Black Duck
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Do new findings reject the assertion that eastward-moving mallards have doomed the black duck? By waterfowl biologist Norman Seymour. Posted April 10, 2007. |
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Reproductive Strategies of Ducks |
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Biologist Norman Seymour describes different reproductive strategies to explain why some species recover quickly from adversity and others do not. Posted February 12, 2007. |
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Habitat and Harvest |
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Is the North American Waterfowl Management Plan fatally flawed? Yes, says a team of biologists. By James H. Phillips. Posted Nov. 30, 2006. |
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The Importance of Duck Diversity |
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Waterfowl biologist Norman Seymour, a long-time diving-duck shooter, looks at the loss of species diversity and what it means for our important waterfowl-hunting traditions. Posted Oct. 2, 2006. |
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Our 2006 Fall Flight Forecast |
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Lower than expected breeding populations and declining habitat conditions on the northern prairies dim hopes for a banner fall flight. By James H. Phillips. Posted Sept. 11, 2006. |
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The Super Hens (Part IV): Hunting Regulations |
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Celebrated biologist Mickey Heitmeyer calls for hen harvest restrictions, a ban on spinning-wing decoys, shorter seasons and condensed season frameworks to preserve our waterfowling heritage. Posted Aug. 9, 2006. |
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The Super Hens (Part III): Survival and Life Cycle |
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What are the primary causes of duck mortality? When do they occur? Biologist Mickey Heitmeyer analyzes the mortality agents that threaten our flocks in this third installment of our four-part Super Hen series. Posted Aug.2, 2006. |
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The Super Hens (Part II): Variation and Recruitment |
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In the second of his critically important four-part series, celebrated biologist Mickey Heitmeyer examines the factors that determine reproductive success and population changes. Posted July 26, 2006. |
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The Super Hens (Part I): Differences Among Ducks |
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Dr. Mickey Heitmeyer examines the differences among ducks, and why these differences play a critical role in determining whether a species, or a distinct population of a species, flourishes or fades into oblivion. This is the first installment of an important four-part series. Posted July 20, 2006. |
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Billion Dollar Debacle |
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How many billions earmarked for waterfowl habitat has been wasted by government agencies and organizations? A must-read by New Orleans Times-Picayune outdoor columnist Bob Marshall. Posted July 5, 2006. |
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Bird Flu Fears |
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Does a deadly, new strain of bird flu pose great peril to those of us who hunt waterfowl? What precautions should we take? Can we trust our wildlife and conservation agencies to tell us the unvarnished truth? By James H. Phillips. Posted April 28, 2006. |
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If Ducks Could Talk |
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Why is the most critical issue facing ducks today being ignored by our waterfowl conservation organizations? Madduck editor James H. Phillips examines the problem, why the silence is deafening, and why it means smaller fall flights in the years ahead. Posted March 7, 2006. |
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The Myth of Over-Sexed Mallards |
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Are mallards seducing black ducks out of existence? Waterfowl biologist Norman Seymour examines the conflicting biological data, debunks the myth and calls for greater scientific candor. Posted Dec. 16, 2005. |
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Melancholy Baby |
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Ducks Unlimited has raised 78 percent of the waterfowl-habitat dollars, but has purchased only 12 percent of the permanently protected duck habitat on the northern prairie breeding grounds. What is going on? By James H. Phillips. Posted Nov. 17, 2005. |
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Build It and They Will Come |
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Create your own waterfowl Shangri-La. Madduck publisher Peter D. Stent reveals the lessons he has learned. Posted Nov. 17, 2005. |
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Habitat, Dollars and Ducks |
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We have spent billions to acquire, protect and enhance North American waterfowl breeding habitat. Where are all the additional ducks these areas produce? A new report tells us one billion-dollar program will annually produce only one-twentieth of a duck per hunter. This shocking report is a must read that should alarm all waterfowl hunters and stir calls for reform. By James H. Phillips. Posted Oct. 5, 2005. |
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Duck Diversity |
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Why is duck diversity important to the health of our flocks and to our hallowed hunting traditions? Biologist Norman Seymour examines the loss of duck diversity and what it means for the future of waterfowling. Posted Oct.5, 2005. |
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Managing
Expectations |
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What
will our coming hunting season be like? Why do waterfowl management
authorities sugar-coat the news? Howard N. Ellman examines
perceptions and reality. Posted Aug. 25, 2005. |
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Back
to Basics |
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Two
celebrated, long-time biologists look at the history of waterfowl
management and why it has failed to maintain bountiful fall
flights. This is a four-star analysis. We strongly encourage
you to ponder their insights. By Norm Seymour and Art Hawkins.
Posted July 27, 2005. |
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Till
Death Do Us Part |
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The 2005
breeding-ground surveys show that potholes have increased,
but mallards have declined. Why? And what does this tell us
about the future? By James H. Phillips. Posted July 27, 2005. |
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A
Tribute to Frank C. Bellrose |
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Pioneering
waterfowl biologist Art Hawkins recalls the early years with
the late Frank C. Bellrose, the celebrated Illinois Natural
History Survey biologist who recently died at age 88. Posted
June 30, 2005. |
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Where
are the Mallards? |
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A look
at changes along the length of the Mississippi Flyway and how
this is affecting greenhead migrations along the “Mallard
Highway.” By Charles S. Potter Jr. Posted June 7,2005. |
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Mounting
Pressure |
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Are liberalized
regulations and technological innovations fundamentally and
permanently altering duck behavior? Will this poison duck hunting
in future years? By James H. Phillips. Posted June 7, 2005. |
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The
Bounce-Back Myth |
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Will ducks “bounce
back” explosively when water returns to the northern
prairies? James H. Phillips examines the changing realities
of pothole country, what it means for the future management
of our flocks and why bounce-back advocates are wrong. Posted
May 3, 2005. |
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The
Sex Lives of Ducks |
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An eye-opening
look at the sex lives of ducks that illustrates why our feathered
friends could challenge Hollywood movie stars as practitioners
of the “anything goes” sexual lifestyle. By waterfowl
behaviorist Norman Seymour. Posted April 7, 2005. |
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Back
of the Envelope |
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Spinning-wing
decoys kill more ducks than are raised on all national wildlife
refuges. The SWD kill exceeds the number of additional ducks
raised on CRP lands. The decoys kill more ducks than are
raised on all Ducks Unlimited projects. Does this suggest
we should ban them? By James H. Phillips. Posted March 15,
2005.
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Waiting
for ‘Northern Ducks’ |
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Biologist
Norman Seymour examines autumn duck migrations. What has changed
and what has remained the same over the past half-century?
Can these changes explain what’s happened to millions
of “missing” ducks? Posted Feb.16, 2005. |
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Cooking
the Molting Goose |
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A Bureau
of Land Management plan threatens the most important summer
goose-molting wetland complex on the Arctic Coastal Plain.
Your help is urgently needed to halt this developing tragedy.
By Stanley E. Senner. Posted Feb.16, 2005. |
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Tons
of Ducks |
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Hunters
sometimes report seeing “a ton of ducks.” What
does this mean? How many tons of ducks do we harvest? By James
H. Phillips. Posted Jan. 26, 2005. |
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A
Mallard Hen's Brief Life |
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If longevity
is key to a hen’s productivity, the question must be
asked: How many years does the average North American mallard
hen live? The surprising answer partly explains the decline
in numbers of mallards that wing southward. By James H. Phillips.
Posted Jan. 3, 2005. |
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New
Bands, New Knowledge |
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Biologist
Peter Blums helped develop and introduced new “plasticine” duck
leg bands to North America. Blums explains why these new bands
may significantly increase our knowledge of waterfowl. Posted
Jan. 3, 2005. |
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Super
Hens |
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A new
biological study confirms what biologists have long suspected – perhaps
as few as 20 percent of the hens produce 80 percent of the
young. Biologist Normal Seymour examines this phenomenon
amid new concerns that hunters increasingly are targeting
these “super hens,” the key to bountiful fall-flights.
Posted Dec. 2, 2004. |
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The
Wrong Diagnosis |
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Duck-management’s
mantra is “habitat, habitat, habitat.” But do we
need more habitat? Madduck essayist Howard N. Ellman explains
why the incessant plea for more habitat may be the wrong diagnosis
for what ails ducks. Posted Oct. 13, 2004. |
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California's
Troubled Mallards |
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Will
California waterfowlers bite the bullet to preserve their dwindling
native mallard flocks? Or will they ignore the warning signs
and continue to over-shoot them? By James H. Phillips. Posted
Oct. 13, 2004. |
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Where
is the Waterfowl Research? |
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Have
you wondered why waterfowl research often fails to provide
answers to key questions? Is it because of bureaucratic in-fighting
and fractured research authority? By Jim Beers. Posted Oct.
13, 2004. |
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Births
and Deaths |
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Biologist
Norman Seymour examines the fundamental law of population biology
and explains what this means to future waterfowl management.
Should we rely primarily on production management or harvest
management to rebuild our flocks? Seymour’s analysis
is critical to understanding the future course of waterfowl
conservation. Posted Sept. 21, 2004. |
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The
Double-Whammy |
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Have
you wondered why our autumn mallard flights are increasingly
thin? Is it because our current regulations increase the kill
of older hens – the “super-breeders” that
produce most of our young? Madduck writer James H. Phillips
examines the harvest data to find the answer. Posted Sept.
21, 2004. |
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Our
2004 Fall-Flight Forecast |
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This autumn’s
fall flight will be the smallest in more than a decade, the
result of a triple-whammy. Declining numbers of breeding ducks,
drought conditions on the northern prairies and devastating
wintry storms during incubation and brood-rearing will reduce
autumn migrants to a minimum. By James H. Phillips. Posted
Aug. 31, 2004. |
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Duck
Survey Raises Alarm |
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North American breeding-ground
surveys find few ducks across the dry prairies, yet Adaptive
Harvest calls for another season of liberal hunting regulations.
Have we forgotten the waterfowl conservation lessons of the
past? By James H. Phillips. Posted July 22, 2004. |
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Gunning
Pressure: How Intense is It? |
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Is increased gunning
pressure causing ducks to sit tight all day on sanctuaries?
Madduck writer James H. Phillips’ examines the biological
data and finds hunting pressure has doubled in recent years,
and that the number of rounds fired today routinely exceeds
the number of ducks that wing southward each autumn. Posted
June 30, 2004. |
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State-by-State
Gunfire |
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How much has gunning
pressure increased in your state? These tables provide a state-by-state
listing of the number of rounds fired by duck hunters for the
years 1994 and 1997-01. Posted June 30, 2004. |
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The
Case of the Phantom Dead |
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Some biologists speculate
that millions of ducks die each year from natural causes. What
happens to the dead ducks? Why don’t we see their carcasses
littering our marshes? By Howard N. Ellman. Posted June 11,
2004. |
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Late
Shooting and Pair Bonds |
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The highly esteemed
waterfowl behaviorist Norman Seymour looks at waterfowl courtship
and pair-bonding – and how late-season shooting affects
waterfowl reproduction. Posted April 22, 2004 |
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To
Many Mallards? |
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A controversial new Adaptive
Harvest report suggests we need to reduce the mallard breeding
population to maximize the harvest. Is this an avian variant
of the Vietnam idea that we must destroy a village to save
it? By James H. Phillips. Posted March 10, 2004. |
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Sense
and Nonsense |
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Is Adaptive Harvest
wrong to suggest that we have too many mallards? Author James
H. Phillips examines the biological data and finds we need
more – not fewer – breeding mallards to sustain
quality duck hunting. Posted Mar. 31, 2004. |
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Reuniting
Waterfowl Management |
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The full text of the
draft Adaptive Harvest Management report asserting a lower
breeding population is necessary to maximize the kill. It is
a six page technical document . Therefore, it is recommended
that you first print it, then read the printed page. Posted
March 10, 2004. |
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Beyond
Feathers |
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Can you identify hens
from drakes without looking at their plumage? Waterfowl biologist
Norman Seymour tells you how to identify the gender of ducks
by their behavior – and why this might suggest a change
in your decoy placement. Posted Feb. 18, 2004. |
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Are
Breeding Surveys Accurate? |
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Are today’s surveys
of the North American breeding grounds fundamentally flawed?
Are population counts too high? Waterfowl biologist Cliff Feldheim
examines these issues. His findings are startling. Posted Jan.
29, 2004. |
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Does
Shooting Matter? |
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What is the reason we
are seeing few ducks? Two simplified mallard population models
strongly suggest we have been over-shooting our flocks. By James
H. Phillips. Posted January 7, 2004. |
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The
Arkansas Report – Part III |
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The Arkansas Wildlife
Federation Duck Committee rejects the idea that sanctuaries
and planted grain crops on national wildlife refuges are the
cause of poor duck hunting. By James H. Phillips. Posted Nov.
20, 2003. |
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The
Legal "Crisis" in Wetlands Protection |
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Is it time to change the
law to protect wetlands? Madduck essayist and attorney Howard
N. Ellman examines the reasons behind a recent U.S. Supreme
Court decision. Posted Nov. 20, 2003. |
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The
Arkansas Report - Part II |
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The Arkansas Wildlife
Federation Duck Committee analyzes the duck harvest and concludes
we are killing too many hens, especially adult mallard hens,
the most important component of our breeding stocks. By James
H. Phillips. Posted Oct. 29, 2003. |
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The
2002-03 Season Duck Kill |
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Hunters killed fewer ducks
last season, but the decline was not spread uniformly across
the nation. A number of northern states reported a big increase
in their kill. By James H. Phillips. Posted Sept. 24, 2003. |
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The
Arkansas Report - Part I |
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The Arkansas Wildlife
Federation recently issued a scathing report on waterfowl management,
along with recommendations to improve the quality of duck hunting.
The AWF report is the most important waterfowl-management analysis
to appear in decades. By James H. Phillips. Posted Sept. 24,
2003. |
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2003
Fall Flight Forecast |
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Increased numbers of
ducks will wing south this autumn, but the flight will be average,
according to Madduck’s annual fall-flight forecast. By
James H. Phillips. Posted August 22, 2003. |
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The
New Zealand System |
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New Zealander Fred Rouse
explains how season lengths and bag limits are set in this island
nation. The government is not involved – and in parts
of the country the legal bag is 50 ducks daily. Posted June
27, 2003. |
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The
Snow Goose Problem |
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A waterfowl manager defends
spring snow-goose shooting in the Central and Mississippi Flyways.
Plus our reaction to his comments. Posted June 27, 2003. |
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A
Fool's Paradise |
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Why does Adaptive Harvest
diminish the importance of prairie potholes? What effect is
this having on our duck populations? Does this suggest our current
waterfowl management policy is fatally flawed? By James H. Phillips.
Posted June 3, 2003. |
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Interpreting
Breeding-Ground Surveys |
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How accurate are surveys
of the North American duck breeding grounds? What do you need
to know to interpret the data correctly? Find out in this timely
analysis. By James H. Phillips. Posted May 16, 2003. |
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Where
Is Waterfowl Management? |
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Duck populations are
crashing along the Atlantic Flyway, but waterfowl management
is not alarmed. It predicts another year of liberal hunting
regulations. Does anyone care about the sad fate of our East
Coast flocks? By James H. Phillips. Posted April 3, 2003. |
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Anecdotal
Evidence |
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Why does waterfowl biology
ignore duck-club records? Why does it shun the records of commercial
waterfowl pickers? Is it ignoring excellent sources of information
that could enable us to better manage our flocks? By Howard
N. Ellman. Posted April 3, 2003. |
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The
New Pothole Truth |
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What does new biological
data tell us about potholes? Why is this important for the future
of duck hunting? By James H. Phillips. Posted March 6,2003. |
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The
Myth Of The Duck Limit |
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Why do most hunters misunderstand
the daily bag limit? Does this threaten ducks? Is waterfowl
management to blame? By James H. Phillips. Posted Feb. 19, 2003. |
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Decline
of the Pintail - Part IV |
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Can we restore the pintail
to its former abundance? What, exactly, is a population model
– and what can it tell us? The final installment of our
four-part series exploring the problems facing the pintail.
By James H. Phillips. Posted Feb. 7, 2003. |
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Decline
of the Pintail - Part III |
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The third installment
of our pintail series examines the effects of shooting on pintail
breeding populations. By James H. Phillips. Posted Jan. 23,
2003. |
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Decline
of the Pintail - Part II |
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Are you aware that today
there are more potholes than pintails, a duck that once was
our second most abundant prairie-nesting species? What does
this tell us about waterfowl management? In this second installment
of our series on the decline of the pintail, we examine the
impact of habitat changes on the breeding grounds. By James
H. Phillips. Posted Jan. 7, 2003. |
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Decline
of the Pintail - Part I |
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How badly have our pintails
flocks declined? What breeding and wintering areas have suffered
the greatest losses? These questions and others are explored
in Part I of our in-depth series examining the fate of this
troubled species. By James H. Phillips. Posted Dec. 19, 2002. |
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Waterfowl
Surveys |
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What do waterfowl breeding-ground
surveys tell us? Is waterfowl management trying to extract more
truth from the data than is justified? These critical questions
are examined by waterfowl biologist Norman Seymour. Posted Dec.
3, 2002. |
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Black
Ducks: Forty Years Of Mismanagement? |
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The black duck, once
the most important puddle duck along the eastern seaboard, has
defied management efforts to halt its population decline. What
does the data suggest to restore this species to its former
abundance? By James H. Phillips. Posted Nov. 5, 2002. |
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Are wood ducks headed
for deep trouble? Several prominent biologists think so. The
historical data also suggests the wood duck's populations
are declining. Can we reverse this downward slide? By James
H. Phillips. Posted Oct. 22, 2002. |
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Everyone knows our
waterfowl flocks are declining. Is the problem exacerbated
by the refusal of our waterfowl professionals to admit the
obvious - a psychological malady known as denial? By James
H. Phillips. Posted Oct. 7, 2002. |
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And
The Winner Is … |
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Two great forces are vying
to determine the fate our ducks. The Conservation Reserve Program,
which increases production of young, and Adaptive Harvest Management,
which maximizes the sport kill. Which force is winning? The
answer is startling. By James H. Phillips. Posted Sept. 23,
2002 |
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A
Drake's Territory |
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Waterfowl biologist
Norman Seymour examines the role of territory on the breeding
grounds and how it affects the distribution and reproductive
efforts of breeding ducks. Posted July 24,2002 |
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Waterfowl
Management: A Success or Failure? |
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Why are fall flights increasingly
thin? Is waterfowl management to blame? What can we learn about
management from the biological data? By James H. Phillips. Posted
August 8, 2002. |
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