Predation on nesting waterfowl in the glaciated Prairie Pothole Region

Increased duck production is a primary goal of management on federal Waterfowl Production Areas and many National Wildlife Refuges in the glaciated Prairie Pothole Region. Considerable effort is expended to manage many of those areas for increased duck nesting success. Predation often reduces the effectiveness of many waterfowl management practices and results in lowered production of young by local waterfowl populations. Recent studies on upland nesting ducks in the Prairie Pothole Region of North and South Dakota show that up to 18 percent of the nesting hens, 20-90 percent of the eggs, and a significant though undetermined number of ducklings are destroyed annually by predators. There is evidence that predation has increased in recent years as a result of changes in land use practices and predator populations