Food of Game Ducks

Abstract

VARIOUS causes have contributed to reduce, to a serious extent in some cases, the numbers of game ducks in the United States and Canada, and the interest of the public and the self-interest of the multitude of shooters alike demand that measures should be taken for the encouragement and multiplication of the duck population. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has responded to the demand by the publication of a pamphlet (Washington, D.C.: Tech. Bull. No. 634; 1939) of 156 pages and 153 plates, with the aim of spreading dependable information on which programmes for the improvement of breeding and feeding grounds may be based. To minimize waste of funds and loss of effort through the introduction of unsuitable foods, it is essential that the important plant and animal foods of the various species be known and that consideration be given to the range of particular species and environmental and other limiting factors. By making use of data accumulated through many years by the Biological Survey, the authors, A. C. Martin and F. M. Uhler, have presented a thorough-going treatise which from three aspects gives a lead to duck conservation and propagation. The first section presents a census of foods, based upon analyses of nearly 8,000 stomachs or gullets of eighteen species of game ducks, and indicates the regions in the United States where each food is preferred. The second part, by means of photographs and concise descriptions, is designed to facilitate recognition of these foods; and the third part contains practical suggestions on the propagation of the food of waterfowl and the development of feeding grounds.