Duckology

  • Dr. Nicolai of Delta Waterfowl holds a few eggs of a mallard hen that decided to nest in the shrubbery next to the Delta Waterfowl building.

Unusual Nesters

March 8th, 2024|0 Comments

Unusual Nesters Some birds go to wild lengths to hatch their eggs By Christy Sweigart Later this spring, somewhere in the deserts of western Nevada, common merganser ducklings will descend from their [...]

  • An illustration showing the arteries and veins inside a duck's feet.

Waterfowl in Winter

January 17th, 2024|0 Comments

Waterfowl in Winter Unique adaptations allow ducks to thrive in frigid conditions By Christy Sweigart As winter’s approach brings frigid winds, bleak temperatures, and dwindling food resources, ducks do whatever it takes [...]

  • where do your ducks come from? Mallard drake in the hand of a hunter

PPR Band Maps

May 18th, 2021|2 Comments

Where Your Ducks Come From PPR Band Recovery Data Maps Every duck that comes to your hand arrives there with a story. It’s usually up to your imagination to guess where [...]

Hen House Success!

July 27th, 2020|2 Comments

Hen House Success! While making his usual rounds, Delta’s Matt Chouinard came across a Delta Hen House in the early stages of hatching a clutch of mallards. Learn what unfolds in the final [...]

The Delta Duck

May 11th, 2020|0 Comments

The Delta Duck Meet the Delta Duck! In this quick video, president and chief science officer Dr. Frank Rohwer makes the cordial introductions to a hen mallard nesting within a few feet of the door to Delta's HQ offices in [...]

  • Close-up of a Racoon, Procyon Iotor, eating an egg

Top Duck-Craving Predators

May 15th, 2019|24 Comments

Top Duck-Craving Predators Delta Waterfowl is on a mission to fill every flyway. Support the Million Duck Campaign Today. When it comes to food-chain hierarchy, ducks are the rabbits of the [...]

Whose Nest Is It?

May 14th, 2019|0 Comments

Whose Nest Is It? Tips from Delta’s president and chief science officer Frank Rohwer on identifying the nests of mallards, pintails, blue-winged teal, gadwall and shovelers.

Helping Eiders

April 18th, 2019|0 Comments

Helping Eiders Researchers are deploying structures to raise nest success in Nova Scotia By Paul Wait Common eiders nesting on offshore islands of Nova Scotia are declining, and researchers are seeking ways [...]

To Catch a Coon

April 11th, 2019|3 Comments

To Catch a Coon Delta Waterfowl studies raccoon movements to make trapping more efficient By Paul Wait Delta Waterfowl’s Predator Management trappers caught dozens of raccoons on the prairie breeding grounds [...]

Taking Flight with Ringnecks

December 14th, 2018|0 Comments

Taking Flight with Ringnecks In this unique footage, veterinarians explain the process of surgically implanting satellite transmitters in hen ringnecks for Delta’s innovative ring-necked duck tracking research. Stay tuned: A new round [...]

Duckology with Dr. Frank

September 5th, 2018|1 Comment

Duckology with Dr. Frank: Using Drones to Find Broods This incredible aerial footage of duck broods illustrates the potential of Delta’s pioneering drone research to revolutionize waterfowl and nest surveys. [...]

Delta Drone Video 2

November 24th, 2017|0 Comments

Delta’s Drone Video 2 – Preliminary Predator Counts with the Drone This short video shows three combined clips from Delta’s thermal drone. These videos were captured in Manitoba. You will see the capabilities [...]

Delta Drone Video 1

November 22nd, 2017|0 Comments

Delta Drone Video 1 - Initial Testing of the Thermal Camera This 2016 video shows the initial testing of a drone and thermal camera to detect nests of dabbling ducks. [...]

Grinding Big Canada Geese

November 22nd, 2017|0 Comments

Grinding Big Canada Geese Most goose populations are doing well – many growing so fast they are creating ecological or anthropogenic issues. The good news is that hunting opportunities have grown dramatically. [...]

Delta Decoy Hunt

September 28th, 2017|0 Comments

Delta Decoy Hunt This thrilling footage puts you inside a layout boat as prime drake redheads pour into a spread of hand-carved decoys. The decoys were auctioned last year at Delta Waterfowl [...]

Delta’s Drone Traveler

September 19th, 2017|1 Comment

Delta’s Drone Traveler Researcher Roald Stander searches for nesting birds using innovative science By Paul Wait Roald Stander’s ascension as a pilot has been a whirlwind experience. Literally. The 29-year-old University [...]

Examining the Pintail Problem

July 26th, 2017|0 Comments

Duckology - Examining the Pintail Problem You have probably heard that the federal regulations that guide waterfowl hunting have already been set for the 2017-18 season. Unfortunately, pintail limits will be one bird [...]

Banding Canada Geese

July 19th, 2017|0 Comments

Duckology - Banding Canada Geese This time-lapse video shows the process of banding Canada geese — with some added flare from Delta photographer Fred Greenslade. The birds were banded near the Delta Marsh by a team led [...]

Duck Bands: More Than Just Bling

February 21st, 2017|0 Comments

Duck Bands: More Than Just Bling How simple metal bracelets continue to aid waterfowl conservation By Veronica Davison, USFWS Sacramento Fish & Wildlife Office With a cobalt blue, cloud-filled sky overhead, [...]

The Prey of Many

February 6th, 2017|8 Comments

The Prey of Many By Paul Wait Michael Johnson monitors more trail cameras than even the most antler-obsessed, deer-hunting fanatic would ever dream of using. But the University of Minnesota master’s [...]

Video: Killer Coots?

October 7th, 2016|4 Comments

Killer Coots? Delta Waterfowl researchers captured some surprising video during our Manitoba canvasback/overwater nesting duck study: Coots harassing canvasbacks, destroying nests and attempting to attack ducklings. A member of the rail family (they’re [...]