Migration Alert: January Thaw Scatters Birds in Central Flyway

Unseasonably warm temperatures, melting snow, and a lack of ice are allowing waterfowl to stretch their wings across portions of the Central Flyway, where a warm start to the new year has ducks and geese on the move.

The winter weather events that occurred in November and December across much of the northern section of the Central Flyway were enough to push large numbers of waterfowl south, but weather conditions in recent weeks have moderated. Just this week, temperatures along the Missouri River near Bismarck, North Dakota, have reached into the high 40s, while yesterday in Pierre, South Dakota, the thermometer reached nearly 60 degrees. The unseasonably warm temperatures have allowed hardy waterfowl like Canada geese and mallards to remain in huntable numbers in those states.

Midwinter waterfowl survey results for North Dakota are not yet available, but state officials suggest that the number will be up compared to last year. Snow cover has virtually disappeared in South Dakota, where hunters are having mixed success with birds along the Missouri River, says Nathan Baker, a biologist with the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks.

“Geese are primarily flying to fields in the afternoons on warmer days,” Baker says. “Some ducks are present as well, typically flying out to feed after sunset, though snowy and windy conditions can prompt daytime flights and feeding.”

In places like northwest Missouri and western Nebraska, hunters are reporting waterfowl pushing back north. “We have seen a very big influx of geese, both snows and darks, and specklebellies are starting to show up in the Platte River Valley,” reports Nebraska hunter and photographer Doug Steinke. “There hasn’t exactly been a huge push of ducks from the south, but we’re starting to see more pintails this week, so I imagine that they are making their way north from the Nebraska–Kansas border. Everything is just so spread out. There’s no ice anywhere.”

According to Ben Webster with Big Kansas Outdoors, there are still opportunities in Kansas for both ducks and geese, but hunter success depends on the weather. “It is very warm here, but we still have birds,” says Webster. “We have enough ducks to play with, and there are plenty of little Canada geese. Quite a few snows if you go out west. The hunting really depends on the day, and we’ve been able to do pretty good if we have a good wind.”