Waterlands
Hunt Data · Waterfowl

Read the Weather. Time the Flight.

Every flyway has a migration fingerprint. The birds it carries, when they push, and the weather that moves them. Learn the birds, watch the fronts, and be set up when the flight hits.

Flying NowNorthern PintailGreen-Winged TealBlue-Winged TealWood DuckCanada Goose
Species GuideMigration CalendarFlyway FingerprintsMatch the HuntDuck School
All Birds
Puddle Ducks
Flying Now

Blue-Winged Teal

Spatula discors

The September duck. Blue-wings leave before almost every season opens, which is exactly why early teal season exists. Two warm-weather weeks of fast, wheeling flocks.

Group
Puddle Ducks
Tribe
Anatini
Weight
13 oz
Flock
Low, wheeling strings
Migration & Season · Peak September
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
DEC
Blue-Winged Teal
Weather Triggers
Cold Front
The first cool nights of September send them. Most are gone by October
Wind
Indifferent. They move on the calendar, not the weather
Temp / Ice
First frost is the eviction notice
Habitat
Prairie potholes, moist-soil units, rice
The Daily Clock
How to hunt it, hour by hour
1
Roost
Night

Shallow seasonal wetlands, moving water-to-water nightly.

Run It
Scout the evening before, every time
Fresh birds daily during the push
2
Dawn Wheel
First hour

Strings rip the spread at first light, wheeling as one bird.

Run It
A dozen decoys and a spinner is plenty
Pick one bird out of the wad
3
Midday Loaf
Midday

Packs onto mudflats and lily edges through the heat.

Run It
Midday walk-ups on small water
Bring bug spray, not a heater
4
Evening Skim
Last hour

Short low trades between wetlands until dark.

Run It
Sit between two waters
They finish without circling
Cross-Reference
Where this bird flies
Waterlands · Flight data blends NOAA weather, band recoveries & flyway council reports
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