Based on the recorded observations, the September 2026 estimate of blue-winged teal in coastal Louisiana and the Little River Basin was 73,000. This was 28% below the 2025 estimate of 101,000 and 65% and 72% below the most recent 5- and 10-year averages. The coastal Louisiana mottled duck estimate was 16,000, which was 60% above the 2025 estimate of 10,000, which was the lowest September estimate on record. There were no green-winged teal observed during the survey.
A recording equipment malfunction prevented counts from one of the two observers from being recorded along transects 8–10. Because the missing observations may have included substantial
numbers of ducks in southwestern Louisiana, the Southwest and overall estimates are incomplete and should be interpreted cautiously. The extent of the undercount cannot be determined from the recorded data.
Much of southwestern Louisiana and the Little River Basin were extremely dry during the survey. Marsh conditions and water levels were generally near average, but less than 5% of the agricultural region of southwestern Louisiana was flooded. Pool level at the Little River Basin lakeside gauge read 27.26 (MSL) at the time of the survey. Water was largely confined to areas near the channels of Little River, French Fork, and the diversion canal. Little Lake was completely covered by shallow water, but observers recorded only a few hundred ducks, including blue-winged teal, black-bellied whistling ducks (BBWD), northern pintails, and wood ducks.
Observers estimated 20,000* black-bellied whistling ducks in the Southwest region and 1,000 in the Southeast region. However, only part of a large flock regularly encountered along one Southwest transect was recorded, so the Southwest estimate is also incomplete. Urban areas that regularly hold large flocks of black-bellied whistling ducks are outside the spatial scope of the coastal survey area. The black-bellied whistling ducks observed were not included in the table above.
Black-bellied whistling ducks may not be harvested during the September teal season. Louisiana’s 2026 statewide teal season, during which hunters may take blue-winged, green-winged, and cinnamon teal, occurs Saturday, Sept. 19, through Sunday, Sept. 27.
