The Upper Mississippi River is recognized as one of the most important fall staging areas for canvasbacks in the eastern United States. Stephen Winter, wildlife biologist for the USFWS, will use information from previous research and aerial survey data to highlight three important components of canvasback habitat quality on the Upper Mississippi River: (1) a critically important food resource, the submersed aquatic plant wild celery; (2) the presence, absence, or relative amount of human activity/disturbance; and (3) the availability of vast open riverscapes.
Stephen Winter, Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge
Recorded April 18, 2025
Stephen Winter is a wildlife biologist for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, a 250,000+ acre refuge that stretches approximately 260 miles from where the Chippewa River enters the Mississippi near Nelson, Wisconsin, down to where the Wapsipinicon River enters near Clinton, Iowa. He particularly enjoys working with waterfowl, which he’s had a love for since he was a small child.
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