Nesting Success Research

Ensuring effective and efficient prairie conservation

Although dabbling ducks once returned each spring to prairie breeding areas to find diverse wetland communities scattered amidst large expanses of grassland, many of the prairie landscapes today have been altered. And the changes to these landscapes have detrimentally impacted the ability of the birds to successfully reproduce. Thus, the challenge is to understand how ducks fare in the different landscape settings they experience today so we can develop and deliver conservation programs that improve their breeding success. Previous research has identified nesting success as the single most important factor influencing the growth of dabbling duck populations. Thus, Ducks Unlimited has had research ongoing since 2000 to refine our understanding of the landscape and habitat characteristics that influence nesting success.

The ultimate goal of this work is the constant refinement of the information we have to guide our important conservation work across the prairies. Here you can learn more about our research and follow along with our researchers as the breeding season progresses in 2009. We hope you’ll enjoy the frequent updates of what is happening on the prairies! Get More Details

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Pre-season Research Update 2009

May 8, 2009

Early May finds pairs of mallards and pintails defending their breeding territories and prospecting for nest sites across the Coteau region of North and South Dakota. Meanwhile the first passes are being made with ATVs towing chains as our research staff begins collecting valuable information about how the nests of those ducks will fare in landscapes of differing habitat quality. Welcome back to our research web-site as we prepare to share the trials and tribulations of doing research on breeding ducks across the Missouri Coteau in North and South Dakota.

The 2009 research season represents the tenth and final year of our long-term research across North and South Dakota. It seems like only a short time ago that I remember the very first mallard flushing from the tall grass in a field of expired Water Bank grassland; nest number one entered our data set. However, our research crews have collected data from the nests over 15,000 duck nests and by the end of this summer that number could climb over 17,000. Those nests have facilitated substantial improvement in our understanding of the factors that are related to the nest survival and ultimately duckling production. With that advanced understanding, DU's conservation programs are better able to be targeted to the most critical landscapes and habitats that the ducks will need if their populations are to be maintained. And more efficient conservation programs will be needed as many new threats exist to maintaining the prairie landscapes that the ducks, many other species of wildlife and ranchers depend upon.

Wetland conditions are excellent across most of our study sites after a long snowy winter here in North Dakota. During winter of 2008-2009, we experienced a virtual tie with 1996-1997 for the most snowfall ever recorded in Bismarck. And as a result of rains that fell just before freeze up last fall, we had an excellent frost seal that resulted in tremendous run-off into the wetlands and beyond. North Dakota was plagued by substantial flooding of the river systems across the state also which caused significant challenges for many of the people who live here but the ducks will clearly have excellent environmental conditions for the 2009 breeding season.

Perhaps the greatest remaining challenge for the ducks is the continuing loss of grassland that provides critical nesting habitat and influences the nesting success. Nearly 500,000 acres of Conservation Reserve Program grasslands will expire from the program and in North and South Dakota in 2009 on top of heavy losses in 2007 and 2008. And unfortunately, native grassland continues to fall under the plow as a result of bad ag policy that still provides risk supports on the remaining rocky, drought prone prairie despite the fact that losses occur nearly every year on many of those tracts. Our current hope is that we may be able to address this policy failing with reform to the crop insurance rules within the Risk Management Agency that administers those programs for USDA. But despite these challenges, the cycle begins anew for the ducks just as it has for thousands of years. With a little help from us, it can continue for several more thousand at least.

We hope you'll enjoy following along with the research crews and watching the breeding season unfold! Stay tuned for the first maps and data to be updated.

Scott Stephens
Director of Conservation Planning

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