The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released its annual Waterfowl Population Status report for 2025, and the findings echo much of what hunters saw last year.
According to the report, an estimated 34 million ducks were present in the traditional survey area across Canada and the northern U.S. earlier this summer. That number is nearly identical to 2024 estimates—about 4 percent below the long-term average—which were used to set the 2025–26 waterfowl hunting season frameworks.
Mallards remained steady at 6.6 million, while northern pintails increased 13 percent to 2.2 million birds.
Habitat conditions showed notable stress. The survey reported a 19 percent decline in ponds across the breeding grounds, with the north-central U.S. seeing as much as a 34 percent decrease compared to 2024. Prairie Canada pond counts were similar to last year, remaining 27 percent below the long-term average.
USFWS biologists emphasized that long-term data since 1995 has shown both higher and lower pond counts and duck numbers.
Mallard numbers remain 17 percent below the long-term average and about half the population estimated in 2015, when mallards reached a record 11.6 million. Still, wildlife officials stress that duck numbers are strong enough to support continued liberal hunting seasons, provided that habitat conditions improve.
For the complete Waterfowl Population Status report, visit: www.fws.gov/library/collections/waterfowl-population-status-reports.
Source: www.fws.gov/library/collections/waterfowl-population-status-reports.
