Shifting Migrations and What You Need To Know

Go to any local diner around 11 a.m. during duck season and there is a strong chance that you’ll overhear a conversation of two or more duck hunters complaining about how there aren’t as many birds as there once was. This gripe is as old as time and is guaranteed to be something that will never fade away. Even though most of these complaints are based on completely anecdotal evidence, bird numbers as well as their migration patterns are and will continually be shifting. Here’s the skinny on what is going on and how these changes might affect you.

Understanding Migration

All animals move throughout the year with a large number of them experiencing alterations in day-to-day activities during specific times of the year. Waterfowl behavior and migration is typically spurred by a number of factors including photoperiod, weather, and wind direction. As birds receive these signals and begin to migrate, they will follow distinct landmarks such as the Mississippi River to help guide them to their wintering ranges. These flight paths are broken up into 4 separate corridors known as the Pacific, Central, Mississippi, and Eastern flyways.

Depending on the species of bird some will only travel as low as the U.S. south, while others may find themselves enjoying a summer vacation somewhere in South America. All of these migrations are historic in nature, yet these patterns have been changing since data has first been collected on the migration of waterfowl. Recent studies conducted by the American Ornithological Society are providing evidence that birds are no longer moving as readily as they once were with a large number of birds stopping short of their historical destinations.

Causation

There are a number of key factors that are affecting waterfowl migration patterns in North America. The biggest drive for birds’ short-stopping during their migration is caused by climate change. The deviation from historical temperatures across most of the U.S. and Canada is creating conditions that allow birds to winter in more northern locations. A lack of weather locking up roosting water and lower snow accumulation covering waste crops has led to birds being able to use resources north of the Mason-Dixon Line for a longer period of the year than historically seen.

Climate change is not the soul culprit in this mutation in migration patterns though. In fact, one must look first towards pre-migration destinations to find the second leading cause of shifting flight paths. Breeding habitat loss continues to plague the Northern Hemisphere where a large part of the continent’s loss in Canadian prairie grasses is making it difficult for birds to find the perfect habitat for nesting. Finally, hunting pressure as well as a lack of ancestral drive to reach wintering ranges due to the introduction of a greater percentage of farm duck DNA also plays a role, though the extent to which these can be held accountable is not as well known.

How This Affects Hunters

The shift of waterfowl migrations is not just something to be concerned with at a national level. These changes lead to real downstream effects on hunters in every corner of the U.S. Local populations of birds rise and fall and the number of migrators that might once have been experienced by some hunters might never be seen by future generations. This doesn’t necessarily spell the end of your favorite honey hole but does foreshadow the necessity of a curb in expectations.

Hunters have always been experiencing changes in hunting conditions for years and as such have either adapted or lamented. Due to migration disruptions, it has become imperative that we become more agile in our techniques as well as where we are choosing to hunt. You might find yourself having to travel a bit further in order to find a good number and completely giving up hunting that small pond on your grandfather’s farm due to a decline in the number of greenheads. Cherishing our heritage is important, but it will always be better to leave a spot to rest than get caught sitting in the same dried up creek year after year expecting different results.

Wrapping Up

Migration patterns are shifting, period. There are a lot of factors that go into the changes that are being experienced across North America in terms of the routes and numbers of migratory game birds. You may feel alone in losing bird numbers, but chances are high that Jim Bo in Louisiana is experiencing a similar fate to Walther in New Hampshire. Our only way out is to do what we can at our local level to help restore more habitat and adapt to the new world order. Failing to do so will lead to a decrease in participation in a sport that continues to have a meaningful legacy across this beautiful nation.

Migratory changes can make your hunt more challenging, but certainly not impossible. If you’re passionate about hunting waterfowl, consider giving yourself the advantage and comfort of 12 Point’s Quack Shack.

If instead you’re one a one track mind toward the upcoming deer season, be sure to check out all of our other blinds.