FWC researchers captured and radio-tagged 47 Florida mottled duck females in September as part of a three-year project to study the unique subspecies only found in peninsular Florida. In particular, researchers are targeting the Everglades Agricultural Area (south of Lake Okeechobee) because of its abundance of Florida mottled ducks.

(Photo courtesy of Jamie Feddersen, FWC)

“The information we’re collecting will allow people involved with land and wildlife conservation in this area to better predict the effects of their activities on the mottled duck, and to focus their conservation efforts where they will be most effective,” said Ronald Bielefeld, an FWC waterfowl biologist leading the study.

The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) landscape and environs were dramatically altered by past farming. Even currently, wetland and upland habitats are changing as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project. Researchers expect to learn how mottled ducks use EAA habitats over their annual cycle and how they adapt to relatively rapid and large-scale changes. Eighty female Florida mottled ducks are expected to be marked with radio tags each year.

“We are now tracking the birds we marked earlier this month,” Bielefeld said. “Soon we will be trapping birds in suburban areas of West Palm Beach east of EAA. All of them will be tracked throughout their annual cycle to monitor habitat use and survival.”

Ducks Unlimited provided $60,000 to the three-year project. “This research will identify certain habitat needs of mottled ducks and, therefore, allow us to better shape our conservation programs for this important species,” said Craig LeSchack, Director of Conservation Programs for Ducks Unlimited.

Researchers with the Waterfowl Management Program of the FWC are studying the birds as part of the ongoing comprehensive Conservation Plan for the Florida mottled duck. On a similar note, check out Florida Sportsman’s December feature highlighting how to duck-hunt Florida’s Wildlife Management Areas without waking up at dark-thirty.