Migration Alert: Central Flyway Teal Hunters, Waterfowl Managers Optimistic

With special teal seasons set to open in several states in the coming days, here’s a look at what waterfowl hunters can expect to see while taking advantage of this exciting hunting opportunity.

Blue-Winged Teal Production

Coming out of the winter months and heading into spring, waterfowl habitat conditions across much of the Prairie Pothole Region looked rather bleak. Thankfully, duck production, including that of blue-winged teal, received a significant boost in May and June when rain began to fall across portions of the region. Conditions across eastern North Dakota and South Dakota, in particular, improved enough to create a somewhat unexpected level of optimism heading into the summer months.

The rainfall benefited ducks in three important ways, says Mike Szymanksi, migratory game bird management supervisor with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department. First, when those wetland basins that had previously been dry filled with new water, it helped kick-start an energized nesting effort by those ducks that had settled in the area but had yet attempted to establish a nest. Szymanski says that the improved wetland conditions also set the stage for successful re-nesting efforts. Finally, the conditions increased the probability of brood survival.

“I expect that in those areas of where the conditions improved, ducks enjoyed a pretty good season of production,” says Szymanski.

According to South Dakota’s chief waterfowl biologist, it appears that this is exactly what happened.

“After the rains, we started seeing teal broods pop up everywhere. Those small wetlands filled with water and the teal just jumped at that opportunity to nest. Based on what I’m seeing and hearing, I think both North Dakota and South Dakota really cranked out a lot of teal,” says Rocco Murano with the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks.

In mid-August, Murano says adult male bluewings began staging in areas of shallow water to feed in preparation for the migration south. Those numbers continue to build heading into early September.

“It is hard to drive past any wetland right now and not see teal. We’re at a point where every little shift in the weather brings new birds in and sends birds out,” says Murano. “The cold front this week should put the migration in motion again. Pretty much perfect timing for these early seasons.”

Habitat Conditions

While summer rains contributed to the likely improvement of blue-winged teal production across the PPR, other parts of the Central Flyway continue to remain dry heading into the fall hunting seasons. Hunters in Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma can expect to find mixed habitat conditions as teal move south out of their nesting grounds.

“Much like areas of eastern North Dakota and South Dakota, we received good precipitation in May and June across portions of Nebraska, but in the months since things have really dried out,” explains John McKinney, waterfowl program manager with the Nebraska Game Commission. “The Rainwater Basin, an area very popular with September teal hunters, remains extremely dry, other than those properties where water is being pumped.”

McKinney says the bright spot in the state may well be the Sandhills region, where water levels remain relatively stable.

“It looks like blue-winged teal production in the Sandhills was pretty good this year, so in central Nebraska out towards the Panhandle the hunting in September might be fairly decent,” McKinney says. “If you have water or the ability to put water on the ground, you’re likely to stop some of these bluewings as they move south, but in some parts of the state, like southeast Nebraska, where water is just still really low compared to prior to the drought, it could still be a tough teal season.”

Habitat conditions vary across Kansas, with the more popular wildlife areas in the western half of the state reporting a need for rainfall to help fill those shallow wetlands managed for teal and other waterfowl.

The outlook in Oklahoma is largely optimistic, according to Paxton Smith, chief migratory bird biologist with the state Department of Wildlife Conservation.

“Overall, conditions are looking really good, with above average rainfall in the last 60 days in parts of the state. Habitat conditions in western Oklahoma look really good,” says Smith.

Smith says that the rainfall has helped reservoir levels rise, flooding vegetation and creating the combination of shallow water and food resources that blue-winged teal target. State crews are also set to pump water on managed moist soil units, adding additional areas of quality habitat for migrating teal.

“We’re already seeing good numbers of bluewings show up in the state, so I think hunters will find good opportunities out there when the season opens on September 7,” Smith says.

Stay tuned for the Texas Teal Season Preview, which will be released in the near future.