Waterfowl Band Return

Bruce Wold

Bands play an important role in the management of North America's waterfowl by providing important information on waterfowl movements, harvest and survival rates. Hunters are encouraged to submit all band recoveries by calling the Bird Banding Laboratory at 800-327-BAND or by reporting the band online.

These maps represent recoveries from 1986-2015 for states and provinces in all 4 flyways, ducks that were banded in July and August only, and birds recovered during the regular duck season  (generally, between September and January) . Only banded birds recovered and reported by hunters were used in the production of the maps.

Each dot represents a location where one or more harvested and reported ducks were banded by the state in which the bird was recovered. Band returns by species are represented by the following colors:

• Mallard - green
• American Black Duck - black
• Northern Pintail - yellow
• Other dabblers (American Wigeon, Gadwall, Northern Shoveler) - purple
• Teal species (Cinnamon, Blue- & Green-winged teal) - blue
• Divers (Canvasback, Redhead, Lesser and Greater Scaup & Ring-necked duck) - red