Quail and duck research

With reports coming in from across Victoria of large numbers of quail and strong breeding occurring, FGA is keen to assist in the gathering of data and science that will secure the sustainability of ethical hunting into the future.

Part of the Wounding Reduction Action Plan involves capturing ducks for X-ray, and while the number of ducks caught and X-rayed last season was reasonable there’s a strong desire to capture larger numbers from a wider range of species at various locations around the state.

FGA was pleased to be informed recently that further research will also include banding and the fitting of transponders to gather further information about birds' habits and movement.

FGA has advocated strongly for more research into blue-winged shoveler, and it appears that future research will include this species and also freckled duck.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could ascertain how ducks seem to know there’s flood water coming before we do?

When you consider the addition of the helicopter surveys of recent years, and all the added research that is being performed or planned in coming years, we can take heart in the knowledge that our understanding of gamebird habits is growing each year. Making use of opportunities while the birds are in the hand to perform additional sampling of blood and faecal matter, swabbing of ducks’ throats, taking weights and measurements, and ageing and sexing the birds makes perfect sense. All of this work, added to the head and wing sampling conducted over the years, is building a solid databank which enables data-driven decisions to be made and answers some age-old questions. At the same time, monitoring for diseases such as avian Influenza is of high importance.

Waterfowl movement and survival

The GMA is co-funding research into the spatial ecology, survival and behaviour of Victoria’s game duck populations.

To ensure duck hunting remains sustainable, it is important to understand population dynamics of the main game duck species, their response to environmental drivers and the impact of harvest offtake. In developing a model of duck population dynamics to support adaptive harvest management, data is required for estimating the survival and movement / dispersal of game ducks in response to habitat availability.

Researchers from Western Sydney University's Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment will study movement patterns of three species of Victorian game ducks in what will be the largest satellite telemetry study of ducks ever undertaken in Australia.

This research will use GPRS/GSM satellite tracking technology to estimate age and sex-specific survival rates and movement between habitat types across Australia of Pacific black ducks, grey teal and Australian wood ducks.

This study will contribute to an increased understanding of these species, their relationship with the environment and the impacts of hunting.

Results from this research will be used to develop a model of population dynamics to support adaptive harvest management.

For more information, visit https://www.gma.vic.gov.au/research/duck-research