Western Illinois University is giving students and natural resource professionals a chance to flock to a community along the Mississippi River to learn more about the migration and health of ducks. The school says the program is offered at its Kibbe Life Science Station in Warsaw.
During the spring migration season, participants trap ducks that come through the area on their way from coastal Louisiana and Cuba to Canada and Alaska, put metal bands on their legs and release them on the river.
The program is part of a larger effort by the Mississippi Flyway Council headed by WIU biology professor Chris Jacques and graduate student Eric Smith. Smith says the program helps in the effort to learn more about population size and harvest rates.
