Ducks Unlimited Launches Major Study of Mallard Ducks

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Ducks Unlimited Launches Major Study of Mallard Ducks

600 Hens To Be Monitored Through Radio Telemetry

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, Apr. 6 -/E-Wire/-- Ducks Unlimited, the international wetlands and waterfowl conservation organization, is launching a major research study of nesting waterfowl---one of the largest yet undertaken in the United States--- to identify factors that limit mallard duck production. The three-year study will track 600 mallard hens in the Great Lakes states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Dr. Tina Yerkes, a DU research scientist, will oversee the study. DU's chief biologist, Dr. Bruce Batt, said the project is a "top research priority." Said Batt: "We're essentially playing catch up because we know pretty well what influences breeding populations in the prairies but we have yet to determine the factors that influence local mallard breeding populations in the Great Lakes region. The latter group is significant because numbers of these mallards have grown at a rate of approximately 5% a year since 1966." Knowledge about factors that affect clutch sizes, duckling survival and hen survival are critical to effective delivery of habitat programs, explained Batt. "Once we have this information, we can build conservation programs specifically tailored to the Great Lakes."

The study got underway in March, 2001, and will continue through 2003. Partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Ohio Division of Wildlife, and several private foundations, including the Winous Point Marsh Conservancy, The Brunning Foundation, and the DeHaan Foundation. The joint enterprise will take place on ten sites in various areas in the Great Lakes. To date, there are three active sites in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio. Thirty-five hens in Ohio have already been trapped and implanted with the lipstick-size radio device, weighing 20 grams. Dr. Yerkes will be trapping hens in Wisconsin during the week of April 9.

"Mallard hens and most other hens have territorial instincts that are especially strong during the mating season. In order to trap hens, we engage these instincts by deploying a decoy hen in an open cage. Once a wild hen detects another hen infringing on her territory, she swims into the trap to chase off the intruder," explained Dr. Yerkes. After a simple surgical procedure, in which the radio device is implanted into the duck, the hen goes through a quick recovery and gets on with her business. "Because the devices are small, weighing less than five percent of total body weight, the hen is unaware of the device and the eyes and ears that are trying to detect her every reproductive move," said Dr. Yerkes. Each hen, emitting a unique frequency, will be tracked daily from a truck mounted antenna. As the results come in, they will be posted on the internet for colleagues in the scientific community and armchair scientists. Dr. Yerkes will also post a weekly biological journal.

Dr. Bob Hoffman of DU's Great Lakes Regional Office said the study will be integral to conservation planning in the coming years. "Understanding these mallards is critical. Our knowledge about prairie ducks is extensive. We know, for instance, that hens require upland nesting sites to breed successfully. Unfortunately, we don't know what factors have the most important effect on waterfowl production in the Great Lakes. We suspect that human induced factors, like sprawl and subsequent wetland degradation and loss, are being brought to bear," said Dr. Hoffman.

Stay tuned to www.ducks.org for the Mallard Tracker in the coming weeks. For more information, contact Tildy La Farge at [REDACTED-PHONE] or [REDACTED-EMAIL], or Dr. Tina Yerkes at [REDACTED-PHONE] or [REDACTED-EMAIL].

With more than one million supporters, Ducks Unlimited (www.ducks.org) is the world's leading wetland and waterfowl conservation group. Wetlands are nature's most productive ecosystems, but the United States has lost more than half of its original wetlands, and continues to lose more than 100,000 wetland acres every year.

Tildy La Farge, [REDACTED-PHONE], [REDACTED-EMAIL]

http://www.ducks.org

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