The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1944-03-23
WINTER DUCK
POPULATION
Is GROWING
brakes and Hens Find Project
Refuge to Their Liking
This Season.

Good news travels quickly among
ducks. That may be why, in increas-
ing numbers, they are spending the
winters near Fort Peck dam.
This year, of course, an unusually
mild seaso may have influenced
the estimated 10000 who lived in
the open waters below the diversion
tunnels or the drainage ditch from
the dam. But even in 1913. a win
ter marked by wide temperature
ranges, more than 5000, mostly
mallards. stayed instead of follow
ing the flyways south, duck custom
that was almost invariably followed
in previous years, says Thomas c..
Horn, manager of the Fort Peck
game range, maintained by the fed
eral fish and wildlife service.
This season our local population
of waterfowl. nearly all mallards,
was much higher" Mr.. Horn COM
ments. The population decreased
steadily after the end of the mi
grafton flight until it reached what
appears to be our normal winter
population of about 10000 birds near
the end of January" Fields have
been open to the birds all winter
and feeding was not necessary until
an early March snowfall.
Birds stay in the ditch or river
every day until about 4 p. m. They
prefer the river, unless temperatures
are low, when the warmer water of
the ditch attracts them. They then
leave to feed in grain fields, pre-
ferably barley.
Reports of waterfowl feeding
through the winter in the Missouri
and Milk river bottoms have been
accepted as what could be expected,
but we have been surprised to find
that they also were commonly feed
ing in the vicinity of Jordan and
Circle" the refuge manager reports.
THE surprise is probably the out
growth of the 5-hour drive necessary
to reach Jordan in a car. without
realizing that it takes a duck prob
ably an hour to fly it,"
Curious about the proportion OF
sexes. Mr.. Horn checked a repre-
sentative sample of the picture
ABOVE anu lOuilu AOO AlCl4o anu A1A
brakes. Why My personal opin-
ion. without a basis of research in
formation, is that the males are
harder and more tolerant OF severe
weather than the females and do
not migrate as far south" the wild
life official answered.
The fact that in both mallards
and INITIALS, the earliest north mi
grants are preponderantly brakes in
dicates this, although inverSely.
Maybe the early migrants are mostly
because there are more OF
them in the northern attitudes"
Or. Mr.. Horn indicates. maybe
ducks are just naturally misogynists.
The mating instinct is not yet fully
developed and wanes by midsummer.
Perhaps. other than in the mating
season they prefer bachelorhood."
With are exceptions, all the VIM
ter visitors are mallards. Mr.. Horn
estimated there are not more than
goldeneyes among the 10000. The
goldeneyeS, diving ducks, unlike the
mallards, feed chiefly on mollusKs
and animal matter, rather than
vegetation. Hence, they prefer the
deeper water below the tunnels,
where they a find minnows and
other marine life.
Mr.. Horn believes it probable that
general weather conditions have
more to do with migration than do
dates, at least in mallards. This is
borne out by this years large popu-
alton at Fort Peck. I
II the birds cannot find barley,
or which they have a marked pre-