Alberta is Idaho's duck factory other states, provinces contribute
Brian Pearson Idaho Fish and Game A long-running duck banding program shows that most of Idaho’s ducks hail from Canada and Alaska with lower 48 states contributing to harvested birds.
Most of the ducks harvested in Idaho during the autumn duck hunting season are mallards, and most of them hail from Alberta, according to a report from Idaho Fish and Game.
The neighboring province to Idaho’s north provides more than one third of the ducks that swing through North Idaho’s sloughs and sweep up and down its rivers.
Alberta also provides a bunch of Idaho’s gadwall — about 43 percent — while the Yukon and Northwest Territories provide the Gem State’s largest source of wigeon — about 44 percent. Alaska is Idaho’s largest source of green-winged teal — at 63 percent — and about half of the northern pintail harvested in Idaho fly down from Alaska. Most of the state’s migratory wood ducks originate in British Columbia, according to Fish and Game.
The information comes from a state survey that includes data from Fish and Game’s banding program. Biologists and technicians trap and band thousands of ducks statewide as part of this federal program, according to Fish and Game and hunters are responsible for reporting band numbers from the birds they harvest.
Of the mallards banded in Idaho, 62 percent are shot in state, according to survey results, but California hunters harvest more Idaho wood ducks than Idaho hunters - about 45 percent of them. Gem State hunters kill 24 percent of the state’s wood ducks.
In addition to Alberta, Montana and the Dakotas provide about 15 percent of the state’s mallards. Oregon provides about 29 percent of the Gem State’s gadwall, and Montana and the Dakotas provide about 13 percent of Idaho gadwall.
The long-running waterfowl banding program logs information into a U.S. Geological Survey database. The banding data joins breeding population estimates and harvest data.
“This is really a tremendous example of successful citizen science,” Jeff Knetter, Idaho Fish and Game’s upland game and migratory game bird coordinator said. “By reporting waterfowl bands, hunters have really helped us gain a ton of valuable information on waterfowl, not just for migration, but also on harvest, survival, and reproduction.”
Hunters who shoot ducks or geese with a leg band should report the band numbers on the eportband.gov website.
Hunters who turn in the harvest data receive a certificate of appreciation that tells the bird’s origin and age at the time of banding.