I know some at least come back to the exact same area every year. My friend shot 2 banded green wings in a week that were banded on a refuge next door to where he was hunting. This was in southeast texas and should go without saying but they definitely were not local birds
What does that prove? I believe that there are a lot of birds "residentials" that never leave the general area. Teal love the warm weather like in south Texas. Hell I've seen teal while bass fishing in June and July here in north texas. What about all the Mallards and Canada's killed up north. I saw some pics this year from hunts where they killed 7 or 8 bands in a single hunt, and only miles away from the banding location. If it was consistent bands killed each year from the exact same banding location 1000s of miles away that's one thing, but what data do you get from a bird banded right next to the banding location. The bird didn't get to prove anything as far as migration patterns go. I guess im just narrow minded and maybe alittle
from duck withdrawals, but I don't think they take the exact same path every year. Flyways maybe but the same exact route and stopping points just seems far fetched. The only thing for sure is they start in the north and end up in the south, that is if all the guys with neck problems from lugging around all that aluminum on their lanyards leave any for us.lol
both birds were banded during the WINTER not SUMMER.
How about this one for you. I shot a mallard in Carnegie, OK that was banded at a refuge in North Dakota. (Ill have to find the certificate to tell you the exact name). Anyway, the day I shot it, a friend of mine was hunting around the same area and he asked where it was banded. I told him North Dakota and before I could get the name of the refuge out he said not only the name of the refuge but the name of the bander! He has 3 bands from the same bander and from the same refuge, all killed within 10 miles of where I killed that bird. What does that prove?
When I say "exact same area" I obviously don't mean a 1/4 acre pond. I would define exact same area as within a 10 mile radius.
1st thing, I didn't mean to challenge your intelligence on bird numbers in south texas. After all your right I don't have the slightest
clue about the bird numbers besides what im told from DU, and on forums like these. I do know that teal favor a warm climate, and we have
a large population of residential, gadwall, widgeon, teal, and mallards of course, here. 2nd What I was trying to say (and I guess I did
a bad job) was we truly don't know if the birds follow the exact same paths and stop in the same spots without looking at the
transmitters. Having them banded in the winter summer or any season doesn't prove they are migrators when recovered in close proximity. I
agree that the birds probably split a 100 mile wide goal post each year, but that's a lot of stopping to remember each year for a bird
whose brain is the size of a what a pea? (and I really don't know the size of a ducks brain).And to negate my own statement about
consistent birds coming from the same place, that still doesn't prove anything but flyways.Obviously after pulling the trigger you cannot
go back and see if that bird will come back the next year using the same path and stopping points.