It’s a good year for ducks.
The breeding population of mallards shot up 49% to 265,640, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Friday in its 2025 Waterfowl Breeding Population Survey.
Total ducks, taking account of all species, increased 27% to 474,495, wildlife experts said. The data will be used to calculate hunting regulations for the Pacific Flyway states, including California.
“The survey indicated an increase in mallard abundance, and habitat conditions were good in northern California, so we expect average to above-average production for all waterfowl species,” CDFW Waterfowl Program Biologist Melanie Weaver said in a press release.
The count is taken from the air by biologists and wardens in fixed-wing aircraft, CDFW said. The estimates focus on areas where the majority of waterfowl nest, including wetland and agricultural areas in northeastern California, the Central Valley, the Suisun Marsh and some coastal valleys, the agency said.
The complete 2025 California Waterfowl Breeding Population Survey Report is available at the CDFW website.
The post State’s mallard population takes off, growing nearly 50% in CDFW’s latest waterfowl count appeared first on Local News Matters.