I was dazzled the first time I saw the flamboyant crests of the hooded merganser ducks in the lagoon in the nature preserve near my apartment. Their courtship dance was impressive—the ducks drop their tails in the water, extending their bodies almost upright while flapping their wings and bobbing their heads.

Their antics made the elegant, long-necked northern pintail and intricately patterned gadwall ducks floating nearby seem even more demure.

Mergansers are diving ducks—they dive 10 to 30 feet underwater to forage for aquatic insects, fish and crustaceans. In forested regions, they may eat snails, frogs, aquatic plants and seeds.

The others I mentioned are dabblers—they obtain their food, often plants and seeds, in shallow water via a method known as “tipping up.”

I get a kick out of seeing mallards upend themselves, tail feathers to the sky, while they search for tasty plants and insects. I don’t take it for granted that I can see these ducks, as well as osprey, blue heron, kingfishers, cardinals, robins, tufted titmouse, and other birds whenever I want at this marvelous land trust property.

That’s why it was troubling to learn this week that ducks, who were once a conservation bright spot, are now declining in the U.S., according to the 2025 State of the Birds Report released by the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI). The report reveals the total number of dabbling and diving ducks is down about 30% from 2017. Loss of grasslands habitat and a prolonged drought affecting the wetlands of the Great Plains’ prairie pothole region have taken a toll, the report says.

Among all the waterfowl, numbers are down 20% since 2014, the report found. Overall, at least 112 North American bird species have lost more than half their populations in the past 50 years.

Commenting on the report, co-author Mike Brasher of the duck-hunting group, Ducks Unlimited, said, “These are the very real consequences if we are unable to conserve and protect the crucial habitats that birds need.”

Of course, Friends of Animals agrees that we need to protect wetlands and grasslands, but how about not shooting ducks? How about banning duck hunting in the U.S. and then studying their populations?

Brasher conveniently neglects to mention hunting as a stressor on ducks, since Ducks Unlimited was founded by hunters in 1937. The majority of DU’s financial contributors and 90 percent of its members are hunters.

If that weren’t the case, perhaps we’d see “Stop Shooting Ducks” at the top of the list of the of actions people can take to help protect birds in decline. It’s sickening to know that people can shoot mergansers, mallards, pintails and gadwalls for fun, the creatures that make the preserve near me so magical.

Ducks Unlimited calls itself “the world leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation.” Talk about not having its ducks in a row.

If the nonprofit really saw ducks and other waterfowl as more than targets, it would not promote the slaughter of any of them, especially the most vulnerable. Duck hunting sends the message that they don’t need protecting at all.

However, 2025 State of the Birds report is a wake-up call that they do!

Editor-in-Chief; Media/Government Relations Manager Nicole Rivard started working at Friends of Animals in 2013. She brings 28 years of journalism experience to FoA’s Action Line and to the front lines— protesting and documenting atrocities against animals.