March is the typical month in Iowa where bird mitigation begins to take off.

Jefferson resident and Carroll County Naturalist Matt Wetrich says this month is all about waterfowl birds mitigating in large numbers.

“So right now we’ve got about five different species of geese, we’ll see about 15-20 species of ducks, and of course Trumpeter Swans. Sometimes you walk outside and there’ll be big groups, big lines of geese flying over, and a lot of them will just keep going. But also, a lot of them are sticking around here too. So if you’ve got any open water, all of March you’re likely going to see some kind of duck, or goose, or swan.”

Wetrich talks about two kinds of behaviors that ducks have. 

“So we have dabblers and divers in the duck family. Dabblers are where they basically tip, they stick their butt up in the air and they reach their neck down and see what kind of stuff they can find, usually sort of vegetation. And the divers, they submerge, disappear for a few seconds. They are looking for small fish and other little tasty nibbles down there.” 

Wetrich says the most common waterfowl seen in Iowa, and will be here year round is the Canadian Goose. He suggests Dunbar Slough, Seven Hills Park and Squirrel Hollow Park as great places to see birds. To hear more from Wetrich about waterfowl birds and their mitigation, listen to today’s Community State Bank in Paton Let’s Talk Greene County program.