Migration Alert: California Duck and Goose Numbers Increase, Hunting Improves

Well, it's show time—at last!

What duck hunter hasn't noticed the change in the winter migration due to the warmer climate? It wasn't long ago the peak of the waterfowl migration into the Central Valley was generally around December 10, followed by a gradual decline until the final days of the season. Not anymore.

If the past two seasons are any indication, the peak will be a welcomed late holiday gift for many hunters. Will impacts of the warming trend continue? As hunters, we are prisoners of hope, so we'll just have to get outdoors and take our chances. Optimism reigns for the New Year.

The 2024–25 season has been inconsistent, to put it mildly, with some positive attributes. Mallard hunting has vastly improved, thanks to two consecutive wet years that created excellent habitat. While preseason bird counts in California found fewer mallards than in previous years, reports from the field are quite the opposite. The mallard harvest is up, according to Sean Allen, manager of the Los Banos Wildlife Area Complex.

What is curious is the reported lack of northern pintails, from the rice country north of Sacramento down through the Grassland Ecological Area and Mendota in the San Joaquin Valley, where flocks of the elegant species have been difficult to spot even high in the sky. From many hunters’ perspectives, northern pintails have literally disappeared this season.

This week green-winged teal have appeared in solid numbers in the Butte Sink, the rice fields around the Yolo Bypass, and the natural marshes of the Grasslands above and below Los Banos. However, the harvest has been down from last year’s totals, with shooting for greenwings being very inconsistent. Cooler temperatures and a high fog cap haven't turned on the action like you'd expect.

American wigeon, which showed up in good numbers very early in the season at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex, haven't appeared in big numbers in other areas. However, some large flocks are bobbing and weaving in the Butte Sink, displaying courtship flights. Very few wigeon are finding their way onto hunters' straps, according to many reports. 

The Sacramento Valley is yielding a variety of ducks, including gadwalls, wigeon, shovelers, mallards, greenwings, and ring-necked ducks, but very few geese. Largely absent are northern pintails and white-fronted geese. Snow and Ross's geese are highly concentrated in rice fields from Richvale to Yuba City and seem to find comfort in the presence of tundra swans.

Greenwings dominate near Davis down through the San Joaquin Valley, where hunting success is improving, but many public areas are reporting less than two birds per gun on average, except during weather events.

The Suisun Marsh is holding good numbers of teal, shovelers, and wigeon, and on windy days, the private clubs have been doing well, reports field scout Yancey Forest Knowles, who focuses on wigeon just west of Fairfield. Joice Island, the closed zone at Grizzly Island Wildlife Area, is loaded with loafing ducks. The Delta islands continue to rely on locally raised mallards and wood ducks, along with increasing numbers of greenwings. Goose hunting has been spotty on most islands, and white-fronted geese seem sparse. In contrast, midseason Aleutian cackling goose hunting has been sensational.

Drought conditions continue to dominate in Southern California. Mystic Lake, east of Los Angeles, got off to a good start. Wigeon came early and just now have moved on. Field scout Joe Fass said greenwings, which were absent most of the season, are showing in big numbers, along with shovelers and gadwall. Fass reports that Southern California is "calendar like," with different species arriving at different times. He expects the teal shooting to be good for the rest of the season.