The Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey (WBPHS) is coordinated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service Branch (CWS), and is conducted annually. The survey has two components: one covering much of central and western Canada and the northwestern United States and the other covering much of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States.
The WBPHS in western Canada and the northwestern U.S. consists of extensive aerial transects to estimate the number of breeding waterfowl and to assess habitat conditions for waterfowl (number of ponds). The survey is conducted annually between May and June and covers the Canadian Prairies and Parkland, Western Boreal Canada (northwestern Ontario, northern part of the Prairie provinces, northeast corner of British Columbia, western Northwest Territories, and Old Crow Flats in Yukon), the north-central U.S. (U.S. Prairies), and parts of Alaska. The survey, which uses fixed-wing aircraft, has been conducted since 1955. Breeding population estimates derived from this survey have been corrected for visibility bias (proportion of waterfowl that are not detected from the air) since 1961, with correction factors provided by the CWS. Those correction factors are obtained from ground counts made by the CWS on a subset of transects in the Canadian Prairies and by the USFWS on a subset of transects in the northern U.S. Estimates of total breeding population sizes derived from this survey provide the most important information used to set regulations for duck hunting in both Canada and the U.S., and they provide a long-term data series for effective conservation planning.
The Eastern Waterfowl Breeding Ground Survey has been conducted annually since 1990. The survey has two components: a helicopter plot survey and a fixed-wing transect survey. The CWS carries out the helicopter plot survey in the Boreal Shield Regions (from northeastern Ontario to Newfoundland and Labrador) and in the Atlantic Highlands Region (Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, as well as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia). The USFWS conducts the airplane transect survey (fixed-wing aircraft) in parts of eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S. Though originally designed to survey American Black Ducks and Mallards in eastern Canada, as part of the Black Duck Joint Venture, the survey also provides quantitative information on other duck species (such as goldeneyes), which can be used to evaluate the status of breeding populations. Historically, the data from the two components of this survey (CWS helicopter plot survey and USFWS fixed-wing transect survey) were analyzed separately, despite some overlap in geographic coverage. The two components were integrated into one survey in 2004. Population estimates obtained from the Eastern Waterfowl Breeding Ground Survey are used to establish hunting regulations in Canada and the U.S., and they provide a long-term time data series essential to effective conservation planning. These data are also used to inform the Black Duck International Harvest Strategy. Due to budget limitations, the number of plots flown annually in the Maritimes was reduced in 2013, and reduced further in 2015; however, the spatial extent of the surveys has been maintained.
For more information about the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey see the Migratory Birds Data Center from the USFWS: https://migbirdapps.fws.gov/
