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Migration Will Be Spectacular, Says Ducks Unlimited Canada 
OAK HAMMOCK MARSH, MB, October 2 - Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and waterfowl biologists are expecting record numbers of ducks, geese, shorebirds and songbirds to pass through Canada this fall on their way to wintering areas in the south.
"We're anticipating a fall flight of about 100 million ducks heading south. Since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife Service began recording population numbers, we've never seen them this high,'' said Don Young, executive vice-president of DUC.
Since 1955, surveys have been conducted by the two agencies to determine duck numbers. These spring counts help estimate how many birds will participate in the fall migration.
Throughout DUC's 60 year history, there have been dramatic fluctuations in duck populations, the most serious during the drought of the 1980s when the fall flight dropped to an estimated 65 million ducks. This year's dramatic recovery is a result of several years of good water conditions combined with the efforts of conservation organizations like DUC to improve and maintain habitat.
"This is most certainly a joint effort,'' Young said, "In conjunction with the great water conditions that Mother Nature has provided is the work of an organization like DUC which is committed to putting hundreds of thousands of acres of habitat on the ground each year.''
In some parts of Canada, more than 70 per cent of wetlands have disappeared and many more continue to be under threat. In addition to providing habitat for wildlife, wetlands also benefit society in a number of ways. Wetlands capture water and release it slowly, lessening the damaging effects of flood. They also act as water filters. Pollutants from the landscape are filtered by marsh plants, providing a better quality of water. Wetlands also recharge groundwater and in many parts of the country, that groundwater serves as a primary source of drinking water.
DUC is a private, nonprofit charitable organization dedicated to conservation of wetlands for the benefit of North America's waterfowl, wildlife and people.
