A study of the water -loving Chesapeake Bay 2025 shows a larger number of birds – Maryland.gov

Exploring Waterfish Chesapeake Bay 2025 shows a larger number of birds

February 4, 2025

An airplane for exploring waterfowl is preparing to take off, Maryland DNR photo by Stephen Bader.

Air Exploration Teams by Pilot and Biologists by Department of Natural Resources in Maryland And the US for fish and wildlife have completed their annual estimates of the population of ducks, geese and swans on the State Bay of Chesapiq, a river of the Potomak and the coast coast on the Atlantic coast.

This year, the teams counted about 705,300 waterfowl, which was higher than the two 593,200 birds observed in 2024, and the latest five-year average of 624 300 birds.

“The spread and abundance of winter waterfowl are influenced by many factors, including the time, food, annual changes in the population and quality of habitats,” says Wildlife Director and Heritage Karina Stonesifer. “The Midwinter Waterfish Study allows our biologists to measure changes in the distribution and long -term trends of winter waterfowl in Maryland.”

In general, the estimated number of duck duck (126,000) is higher than the number of 2024 from 91 300 birds. The number of trousers (62 300) and black ducks (47 600) is higher than the respective 5-year average (54 740 and 27 840).

The survey of the mid -winter in 2025 was conducted in the first two weeks of January. Biologists count 414 200 Canada Geese in the 2025 study, which is higher than 350,500 geese counted in 2024, and 5-year-old 354 760. In general, the higher ducks and Canadian goose are likely to reflect The cold weather observed in December and January.

The study of waterfowl in the mid-winter has been conducted annually since the early 1960s and covers most of the tides on the shore and habitat of coastal waterfowl in Maryland.

The results of the last five studies are below. The study was not conducted in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic.