| With hundreds of miles of ocean and bayshore coastline, coastal and inland wetlands, small ponds and large lakes, New Jersey hosts an enormous variety of waterfowl species. Waterfowl can be found in abundance in the varied wetland habitats throughout the state including wood ducks in the beaver swamps of northern New Jersey to snow geese in the vast salt marshes along Delaware Bay.
In fact, New Jersey's salt marshes and coastal back bay habitats are of global significance given that over one-third of the black ducks in the eastern United States and over two-thirds of North America's Atlantic brant spend winter in these marshes. |
Snow geese at Brigantine
Photo by Gary Lehman - click to enlarge
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Due to the migratory nature of waterfowl, the research and management activities of the Division's Waterfowl Ecology and Management Program are generally conducted on a flyway or continental scale requiring the participation of numerous state, provincial, federal (US and Canadian) and non-government partners. New Jersey is a member of the Atlantic Flyway Council (AFC), which provides the means to participate in promulgating annual hunting regulations and long-term management plans in cooperation with partner states and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The primary objective of the Division's Waterfowl Program is to work in a cooperative manner with the numerous government and non-government agencies responsible for the populations and habitats of migratory game birds.
In cooperation with the AFC and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, several surveys are conducted each year to measure waterfowl population parameters. Current projects also include satellite telemetry tracking of Atlantic brant and pintail ducks.
What Do I Need To Hunt Migratory Birds In New Jersey?
1. To hunt crows: a New Jersey hunting license.
2. To hunt woodcock, rail, snipe, coots or moorhens (gallinule): a New Jersey hunting license and Harvest Information Program (HIP) certification.
3. Required to hunt ducks, geese or brant: a New Jersey hunting license, HIP certification, Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp and New Jersey Waterfowl Stamp. Both federal and state stamps are required for waterfowl hunters 16 years of age and older and must be signed in ink across the stamp's face. Federal stamps are available at U.S. post offices and online. State stamps are available from license agents or purchased and printed from the license website.
4. To cover costs involved with the administration of the HIP certification process, the cost of HIP certifications is $2.00.
Waterfowl Information
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