, 1935-02-24
Ducks Keep To
Flyways Used
By Ancestors

When the ducks now wtntering IN
the United States wing their ways
10 breeding grounds in the north.
they will follow routes estaolisneu
by their ancestors. and when the
birds return next fall each group
will come again TO the same region
where It's ancestors found w~intering
grounds, and by the same route the
ancestors flew. according TO 7. G.
Lincoln. naturalist OF the U. 5. Bio
logical Survey.
The birds. Mr.. Lincoln explains,
have naturally and over the ages
developed their many routes OF
travel into four main systems
From north to south the migration
routes come together In four de-
finite geographic regions. called fly-
ways. These four flyways are de-
signated the Atlantic. the Mississip-
ID, the Central. and the Pacific.
Care Necessary
This means that the sportsmen
along each OF these flyways will
have to protect their own ducks from
their fellow shooters in that par
ticular flyway. The same kind OF
ducks may be flying northward In
another flyway, but the young these
other ducks rear in Canada will not
fly south by any route except the
one the parents used. Three fam
lilies OF ducks may nest in the same
marsh in northern Canada, but when
the southwark migration starts the
3 groups will not fly together. but
both the old and the young ducks
will 20 south by the same routes
that the parents flew in coming
north. Too much killing OF ducks
IN that flyway. and shooters cannot
In that flyway. anl shooters cannot
expect to benefit much from con-
servati0n efforts In some other fly
way. For practical purposes the
duck flyways are just aS separate
as II they were fenced off by mile
high woven wire.
This knowledge OF the migratory
habits OF ducks, based on bird-band-
ing and other information. is OF
great significance to conservation
lists, says Mr.. Lincoln. The ducks,
he explains. are so strongly influ-
enced by their ancestral lanes OF
migration that they VIII continue to
follow them even though conditions
en- route or on the w~fntering grounds
become unfavorable.
II the birds should be exterminat-
ed In any one OF our four major fly
ways, IL would at best be q long
time, Mr.. Lincoln predicts, before
that region could be repopulated,
even though birds OF the same spe-
cieS should continue to return over
other flyways TO their great breed
ing grounds OF the north.
Protection Necessary
Today, the naturalist points out,
we have indisputable evidence that
the waterfowl OF North America
have seriously decreased In num-
bers throughout the continent and,
consequently, that we must take
special precautions 10 prevent the
determination Of these valuable spe-
cies. In the light, however. OF what
we have learned about the birds
attachment for their ancestral fly
ways, Mr.. Lincoln declares, we must
60 far enough 70 prevent the exter-
mination Of the species in any one
Of the four major flyways. Every
sportsman. he says. must stand will
Ing 70 make special sacrifices, II
need be, TO spare the birds that Nv
back and forth over the ancestral
flyway Of the waterfowl that come
to his own hunting grounds.
Mr.. Lincoln's report on the fly
ways and their significance has
been published by the n. .. De-
partment OF Agriculture IA Circular
3a2-C, entitled The Waterfowl Fly
ways OF North America"