Nonhunting Enjoyments
For the nonhunter—and many avid outdoorsmen prefer to watch rather than shoot—this guide to waterfowl can provide enjoyment beyond the simple pleasure of seeing ducks and geese. Most of us remember seeing some “oldtimer” identify flights or singles or rafts of birds at what seemed impossible distances. The ability to do this does not really stem from some mystic communion with the birds. Rather, through such a booklet as this the waterfowling layman can develop the same powers in himself. For the cost of a little concentrated effort he can gain great personal satisfaction and the increased understanding that comes from resolving “ducks” into the wide variety of individual species they really are.
Further, some knowledge of waterfowl distribution, annual abundance and the approximate source and destination of the ducks and geese he hunts, will often help the waterfowler understand the overall picture of waterfowl management. For both administrative and biological purposes of waterfowl management, the United States is divided into four flyways—the Atlantic, the Mississippi, the Pacific, and the one for which this booklet is written, the Central. Each flyway has its own segment of the waterfowl population, subject to different conditions and pressures than the populations of other flyways, and therefore is administered as a separate unit. In general this is a sound premise, but it must not be considered too rigid. Since the flyway principle is in part an administrative device, it is important principally in fall and winter when most North American waterfowl are within the United States. As the wintering populations begin to move northward in the spring, many species disperse throughout the nesting grounds of the northern states and Canada. Much overlapping of the populations from various flyways in which the birds wintered occurs.