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Mucho Mallards |
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An estimated 11.3 million mallards are taking part in
the 2000 fall migration. These birds are the most abundant and widely
distributed waterfowl species in North America. Because of their feeding
habits and cold hardiness, the fall migration of mallards is a prolonged
event lasting from late fall to early winter. |
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Tiny Teals |
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With destinations as far south as Venezuela and Peru,
blue-winged teals migrate farther south than any duck in the Western
Hemisphere. About half the size of mallards, these birds are the second
most common duck in North America. They are also among waterfowl's fastest
fliers. |
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Pintails California Dreaming |
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Pintails nest primarily in the prairie regions of North
Dakota, southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and northwards to Alaska. More
than half of the pintail population are California dreaming as they wing
their way south. Pintails are among the first waterfowl to head south.
They also overwinter in Texas, Louisiana, the Carolinas and Mexico. |
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Black Ducks Back Off |
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Similar to mallards in size, Eastern Canada's black ducks
hesitate to leave when the weather turns chilly. They often delay migration
to the northeastern U.S. and Kentucky until winter or they don't leave
at all choosing to overwinter along the Atlantic Coast, Lake Erie and
the St. Lawrence seaway. |
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Canada Geese All Over the Border |
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Migration for Canada geese begins when northern birds
fly south to staging areas where they join others to eat and rest up
for the remainder of the trip. Migration occurs earlier in Western Canada
than in the moderate climates of the east; however, the majority of birds
have departed for the southern United States by November. It's an all-out
border blitz as the birds fly south across Canada. |
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The award for the longest non-stop waterfowl migration goes to . . . |
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the black (Pacific) brant that travels from Alaska to
Baja, Mexico. While they may rest on the ocean surface during the passage,
most of black brants don't stop anywhere to feed along the way. On their
way back in the spring, the birds need to have enough energy for migration
and they also need to accumulate fat and protein reserves for egg laying.
So on the northbound trip, they do the stop-and-shop routine feeding
in ocean bays along the way. |
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Terning in as the longest fliers . . . |
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The arctic tern has the farthest migration travelling
50,000 kilometres (31,000 miles) in a year, while it is not unusual for
some songbirds to journey 20,000 to 30,000 kilometres (12,000 to 19,000
miles) to reach their destinations. |
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Honorable mentions for their migration efforts: |
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North America's monarch butterfly flies up
to three thousand miles during migration, making it the only butterfly
to make such a long two-way migration every year. What do hawks and butterflies
have in common? Some researchers think the monarch, just like a hawk,
is able to conserve its fuel in flight by gliding on air currents as
it travels south. |
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