Conservation in Florida
Florida is part of the Atlantic Flyway and provides important winter habitat for waterfowl that are produced in the prairies, Great Lakes, and eastern Canada. Florida’s coastal and interior wetlands provide important habitat for significant numbers of blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, ring-necked ducks, northern pintails, and wood ducks. Also, Florida is unique among Atlantic Flyway states in that its wetlands and interior prairies offer habitat to the native mottled duck. DU has worked to conserve over 22,000 acres of wetlands throughout Florida since 1985. Our goal is to conserve habitat to secure the future of waterfowl in Florida and throughout North America. Your support of DU will help us achieve that goal.
Florida Habitat Projects
Southeastern Coastal Plain
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Florida Mottled Duck Research Project
Genetically distinct from mottled ducks found in Texas and Louisiana, the Florida Mottled Duck is a unique subspecies found only on the peninsula of Florida. The 30,000 to 40,000 birds that comprise the Florida breeding population are most commonly found on small prairie wetlands, flood plain marshes of the St. Johns and Kissimmee rivers, and coastal impoundments. Florida’s landscape within these areas has experienced drastic changes over the years with much of the dry land acreage being modified for agriculture or urban use. Mottled duck use of habitats over their annual cycle and their ability to adapt to these changes on the landscape are not well understood.
Efforts to gain a better understanding of mottled duck ecology in Florida has led the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to propose research to investigate the habitat use, movements, and survival of female mottled ducks. This information will aid in focusing conservation efforts where they will be most effective...
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