The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1921-09-22
DUCK REFUGEES
IN MARSH AREAS
Uncle Sans Biologists Declare
The Wild Fowl Must Have
Further Protection.
ARE OUSTED BY DRAINAGE
Results OF the Study, During Three
Summers, Of the Ducks and Canada
Geese That Breed in Bear River =
.. Region of Utah.

Prepared by the United States Depart
ment of ~Agriculture.)
Washington.-Although legislative
measures for the protection of wild
fowl have multiplied, and have added
to the restrictions on hunters, these
regulations have not been sufficient to
maintain these game Eirds In their
former abundance. Regions that once
were the summer homes of myriads
of wild ducks have been drained and
placed under cultivation, and extensive
areas where the birds at one time
bred are now populous farming COM
munities. t~FE H.s
These changes, say biologists Of the
United States Department Of Agricul-
ture, have crowded out the former
feathered residents and have served
in a corresponding. degree to reduce
their numbers.
Realization of these facts has led
recently to the adoption Of other
measures to encourage waterfowl. A
number of extensive marsh areas have
been made permanent refugees under
the guardianship of the Department of
Agriculture, and many private pre-
serves, some formed by artificial
means, have been established where
the birds are protected while nesting.
In addition, in a number of cases,
figid local restrictions have been
placed upon hunters.
. investigating the Ducks.
, As a means of cooperating in such
Efforts to maintain and increase the
number of waterfowl, the biological
survey of the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture has undertaken
Investigations Of the general conditions
Under which wild ducks live and
thrive, coupled with counts Of the
birds found in areas varying In char
acter. During three summers, field
studies were made dealing with wild
ducks in the Bear river marshes in
Utah. a report of which has just been
published by the department in De-
partment Bulletin 936, Wild Ducks and
Duck Foods of the Bear River Marshes,
Utah.
During the three seasons devoted to
this work IL species Of ducks and the
Canada goose were found breeding in
the region included in the Bear river
marshes, which cover an extensive
area at the northern end Of Great
Salt Lake. In an enumeration made
during May and June, 1916. Of the IL
species of breeding ducks 1850 pairs
were counted, and it is believed that
this number represents between 60 and
100 per cent of the total number. OF
breeding ducks occurring here thai
season.
Vast Number in One Region.
Allowing five young reared to ma
turity as the average for each pair,
and considering 1916 as an average
season, the bulletin states that, at a
conservative estimate, between 25,OO0
and 10000 wild ducks, native to the
marsh, are to be found there at the
close of the breeding season.
1t was found that, in addition to
the large number of birds reared on
the Bear river area, many other ducks
came in after the nesting season to re
main there until fall. That birds from
the Bear river section range widely
after leaving these marshes has been
shown by records of ducks that have
been banded and released there and
subsequently were shot elsewhere. Rec
ords thus obtained show that birds re
leased near the mouth Of Bear river
in migration cover the region from
Oklahoma to Texas and west to Cal
ifornia. The department urges the es.
Establishment of a greater number OF
preserves where wild fowl may breed
and rest unmolested and find an am
ME suDply of food.