By Johann Walker & Scott Stephens As summer wanes, many people
are busy with last-minute vacation plans, and some are beginning
to prepare for the upcoming fall hunting season. Late summer is
also busy for ducks. In July, August, and September, post-
breeding adult birds and newly fledged young ducks undertake a
host of activities that prepare them for fall migration. The
late-summer period between breeding and fall migration is not as
well studied as the nesting and brood-rearing periods.
Nevertheless, biologists know plenty about the habitat and
nutritional requirements of ducks and their efforts to fulfill
those needs. In late summer, there are important differences in
habitat use and movement among adult males, adult females, and
young birds. Once most nesting females begin incubation and
renesting activity wanes, adult drakes leave breeding areas for
molting locations. Because of their early start, they are able
to make long-distance molt migrations. They gather on permanent
wetlands that have both emerge