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Mallard Tracker Back On-line 
OAK HAMMOCK MARSH, MB, May 19 - Twenty new mallard hens have been selected by Ducks Unlimited for monitoring updates at the Mallard Tracker Web site. This is the third year that the Web page will provide information on the location and nesting success of hens in the wild.
"We're trying to give people a perspective of the difficulties hens face during nesting and brooding periods,'' said Ducks Unlimited biologist Lisette Ross. "We post real information as we receive it from the field.'' Ducks in two areas of Canada are being profiled this year, one in Manitoba near Minnedosa and the other in Ontario, near Kingston. "The challenges facing ducks in Ontario can be different than those in Prairie Canada,'' Ross said. During last year's study, a duck at the Ontario site was attacked by a cat, causing the duck to abandon her nest. "Cat attacks aren't as great a concern in the Prairies'' Ross said, "but all ducks have to deal with predation, nest abandonment and poor weather conditions.'' Of the 20 hens monitored last year, 12 were successful in raising a brood.
Last year, the Mallard Tracker site was visited approximately 5,000 times per day by interested duck watchers. Information for Mallard Tracker is acquired through an assessment program conducted by Ducks Unlimited's research arm, the Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research (IWWR). The assessment was started in the Prairies in 1991 to gain more information on mallard habitat use, nesting effort, and hen and brood survival. Hens are fitted with transmitters to allow researchers to track their movements. To date, over 2,000 female mallards have been tracked and over 11,000 nests have been found and monitored. "Hens are tracked on a daily basis,'' Ross said, "and their locations are pinpointed. We then transfer this information to the web page.'' The two locations profiled in Mallard Tracker correspond with IWWR research sites.
In addition to receiving duck updates, visitors to Mallard Tracker can learn more about duck habitats, query Ducks Unlimited biologists and fellow mallard trackers, and take part in wildlife quizzes to print a certificate and win Mallard Tracker T-shirts.
