2013 Mid-Winter Waterfowl Survey

In January of each year, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, with assistance from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, conducts an aerial mid-winter waterfowl survey. The mid-winter waterfowl survey is a nationwide effort to survey waterfowl in major winter concentration areas, and occurs in all 4 flyways. In the Atlantic Flyway, the survey occurs from Maine to Florida, and is designed to determine population trends of wintering waterfowl and their distribution in the flyway. For some species, like tundra swans, it is the primary source of information on abundance or trends in the population, because they are either difficult to survey on their breeding grounds using airplanes or they nest in remote and inaccessible Arctic areas.

In North Carolina, the survey is limited primarily to coastal areas with the exception of selected locations along the lower Pee Dee River. The graphs below represent the results from the mid-winter waterfowl survey in North Carolina for selected species from 1961 to the present. When reviewing these graphs, keep in mind the following:
 

• The survey is coastal oriented.
• The survey counts waterfowl on “open-water” areas. Because of the difficulty in counting waterfowl in wooded habitats (beaver ponds and swamps) these areas are not surveyed well and those species preferring these habitats (wood ducks, mallards) are missed when they occur in these locations.
• Because the survey occurs only once per year in a relatively short time period, the survey provides only a “snapshot” of waterfowl numbers in the state during the winter.
• Ice conditions, when they occur, likely influence results in some years. Extensive icing conditions force waterfowl out of small, isolated wetlands into larger water bodies. When this occurs, they are more easily observed and as a result estimates can be inflated compared to most years under normal weather conditions.

2013 North Carolina Mid-Winter Waterfowl Survey Summary

The 2013 mid-winter waterfowl survey was conducted from January 6^th – January 19^th.  During this low-level aerial survey, all waterfowl were counted in 38 discrete geographic units.  This coastal oriented survey covered all major water bodies from approximately Mackay Island in Currituck County to the New River in Onslow County.  Several inland lakes as well as a portion of the Yadkin/Pee Dee River system were also surveyed.  The survey this year was prolonged due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts and weather related delays.  When compared to the 2012 survey, counts varied considerably for many species.  For example, notable increases were observed for wigeon, scaup, ring-necked ducks and bufflehead (Table 1).  In contrast, counts were down considerably for mallards and pintails.  From a longer term perspective, gadwall, wigeon, scaup and ring-necked ducks remained above both their recent 10-year average and 63-year average.  Mallards and black ducks remain well below their long-term average with mallards being down 75%.  Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge and surrounding private areas continues to be the core area for concentrations of dabbling ducks.  For example, 92% of green-winged teal, 90% of wigeon, 68% of pintails and 50% of gadwall and were observed in this area.   

Table 1.  2013 mid-winter waterfowl survey results for selected species.