August-September 2021 • Nebraskaland 25
commonly referred to the joining of
neighbors to work on a single activity
to help a neighbor in need, such as a
sewing bee or a quilting bee.
The Service applied that concept
when the first Central Flyway
Wingbee took place in 1964 in Fort
Collins, Colorado. In 1987, the Wingbee
moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, then
in 1992 to Hartford, Kansas, where it
has stayed – until this year.
The Central Flyway includes
Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming,
Colorado, New Mexico, Texas,
Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota,
North Dakota and the Canadian
provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan
and the Northwest Territories. The
Wingbee, however, is for the U.S.
harvest only. The Canadian Wildlife
Service conducts its own monitoring.
Wingbees also are held in the other
flyways: Pacific, Mississippi and
Atlantic.
How it Works
The Service asks a sample of
waterfowl hunters, through the
Harvest Information Program, each
season to voluntarily mail to it a wing
from a harvested duck or tail feathers
of a harvested goose in postage paid
envelopes. The Service determines
the species of each wing or tail that
is sent to the Flint Hills National
Wildlife Refuge, then packages them
individually in bar-coded envelopes.
Until this year, the envelopes would
be collected, sorted and stored at the
Flint Hills NWR for the Wingbee.
This year, after they were sorted and
species of the waterfowl determined
at the refuge, they were shipped to
several sites throughout the flyway,
including Lincoln's "mini-Wingbee."
When individuals evaluate duck
wings, they first determine the sex
of the bird, then determine if it was
an adult or juvenile. They do this by
assessing the shape, color, condition
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission biologist Randy Stutheit examines mallard duck wings during a mini-Wingbee at the
Commission's headquarters in Lincoln. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service collects wings and tails of ducks, geese, doves and
woodcock harvested by a random sample of hunters. ERIC FOWLER, NEBRASKALAND
