I haven't been following the weather in the north central states, but have they had any good cold fronts to start pushing birds down our way?

Teal don't migrate on cold fronts. They will be here when the season opens. Also they are here one day, gone the next. They move through quick. And they don't move in one giant flock. A spot may have no teal Monday, teal on Tuesday, none on Weds, and be loaded up on Thurs.

Teal don't migrate on cold fronts. They will be here when the season opens.

So they don't fly south when the winds come out of the north. I guess they just check their calendar.

Actually, the ducks Hazelton described "sensed" key changes in their environment long before the December blast ultimately pushed them southward. While a dramatic change in weather was the immediate signal for the birds to find food and habitat elsewhere, the internal clock that determined their departure was set months before by the gradual lengthening of spring daylight.

Among waterfowl, regular seasonal movements (i.e., migration) are driven by changing photoperiod, the relative length of day and night during a 24-hour period. As a result, migration is physiologically "hard-wired" in waterfowl and other migratory birds. Beginning in spring, increasing day length affects hormone response and starts the clock ticking. Accumulation of fat, migration, breeding, and the molt follow in succession over the next weeks and months.

Teal don't migrate on cold fronts. They will be here when the season opens. Also they are here one day, gone the next. They move through quick. And they don't move in one giant flock. A spot may have no teal Monday, teal on Tuesday, none on Weds, and be loaded up on Thurs.

I was under the impression that teal migrate before the larger ducks on account of being more sensitive to cold, i.e. that the first frosts send them south. Is their migration time purely based on length of the day rather than weather? Certainly the larger ducks are pushed south by cold.

I hunted around Ray Roberts and only saw Spoonies on Sunday. Saw a flock of 5 teal on Monday. But still have 2 weeks for them to come down.

I was under the impression that teal migrate before the larger ducks on account of being more sensitive to cold, i.e. that the first frosts send them south. Is their migration time purely based on length of the day rather than weather? Certainly the larger ducks are pushed south by cold.