And gadwall, a species that has boomed over the past decade, seem to be continuing their growth. Final figures from the North Dakota survey, conducted each year since 1948, show the number of ducks in the state dropped 10 percent from a year ago, while the number of wetlands declined a stunning 69 percent. That's great news for Texas waterfowlers since most of those North Dakota bluewings funnel through Texas as they migrate south. Gadwall also are doing well in North Dakota. Continent-wide, gadwall numbers have doubled over the past 10 years.
Pintails continue suffering.
The popular puddle duck has seen its population drop by more than half over the past quarter-century. This year's habitat conditions did them no favors. Without those wetlands, pintail nesting effort and success is poor. That seems to have been the case in the pintails' primary nesting grounds in the grasslands of the Dakotas, Saskatchewan and Alberta. In North Dakota, for example, the number of temporary wetlands dropped from 150,000 in 1999 to 5,000 this spring.