Kansas Duck Migration Report 2026

Duck observations in Kansas usually jump to their fall high in a single week, around the week of Oct 26; they stay above the halfway mark between their July level and that high through the week of Apr 6. That is from ten years of research grade iNaturalist observations, 2016 to 2025, counted as a share of all bird observations so the growth of the app does not skew it.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge (on the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks form) runs the KDWP Bi-weekly Waterfowl Survey, last counted on September 18, 2026 (18 ducks, 1 mallard, added up from the published species counts). Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Central Flyway Mid-Winter Survey) runs the Central Flyway Mid-Winter Waterfowl Survey, whose newest published count is from January 2024 (600,483 ducks, 479,045 mallards). Each count links to the agency's own report.

In Kansas, blue-winged teal climb first, from around the week of Aug 24, and ring-necked duck come last, from around the week of Nov 30. That is the week each species' share of bird observations first passes the halfway mark between its July level and its fall high; the species chart shows all of them week by week.

Kansas is in the Central Flyway. The Great Plains corridor from the Dakotas and Montana down through Texas. The freeze watch for Kansas reads forecast lows at the Central Flyway's northern staging areas: Devils Lake, Minot, Aberdeen, Valentine.

The 2026 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service breeding survey estimated 33.4 ± 0.6 million birds, 6% below the long-term average of 35.4 ± 0.09 million. That is the fall flight's starting point for every state, Kansas included.

Season dates, zones and bag limits for Kansas are set by the state wildlife agency inside the federal frameworks and are listed on the Kansas waterfowl season page, linked below.