Mississippi Duck Migration Forecast

Where MS birds come from

Mississippi fills from the Arkansas Delta and west Tennessee, straight down the river. Arkansas is a state DuckCast already scores, and so is Missouri above it, which makes this the bottom of a second chain: Missouri to Arkansas to Mississippi. When the Grand Prairie freezes, this is where those birds land.

DuckCast watches the Arkansas Delta and west Tennessee for the freeze and snow that start birds moving, then reads NEXRAD after dark to see whether they actually flew. The upstream picture is why a score can rise here before anything changes in your own sky.

The 9 regions we score in Mississippi

Every region gets its own daily score. Reports are generalized to the region, so nobody burns your spot.

• North Delta

  Tunica cutoff, Moon Lake and the Coldwater bottoms down through Quitman. First Mississippi ground a bird crosses coming off the Arkansas side.

• Central Delta

  Bolivar, Sunflower and Leflore, the flooded rice and bean ground either side of Highway 61. The heart of it, and where the aerial survey counts the most birds.

• South Delta

  Delta National Forest, Panther Swamp and the Yazoo backwater down to Eagle Lake. Green timber and brakes that hold when the fields go dry.

• North Hills Reservoirs

  Arkabutla, Sardis, Enid and Grenada across the loess bluffs. Big Corps water that takes the birds the Delta pushes east, plus the diver flocks.

• East Prairie and Noxubee

  Noxubee refuge, the Tombigbee waterway and the black prairie ponds. Quiet water well east of the flyway's main line, and better than it looks.

• Central and the Pearl

  Ross Barnett, the upper Pearl and the Big Black bottoms around Jackson. Reservoir roosts with river and creek feeds either side.

• Southwest River Bottoms

  St. Catherine Creek, the Homochitto and the old river chutes below Natchez. Last Mississippi River ground before Louisiana.

• Pine Belt

  Beaver ponds, creek bottoms and a few lakes through the longleaf country. Thin water, and honest about it.

• Coastal Marsh

  Brackish marsh from the Pearl mouth across the Pascagoula to the Alabama line. It never locks, so it still hunts the week the Delta is frozen.

Common questions about Mississippi

When does the duck migration peak in Mississippi?

DuckCast's season model puts the green-winged teal peak in Mississippi around early January. That is a modelled typical curve, not a prediction for any single year: the actual push depends on cold fronts and freeze-up upstream, which is what the daily score tracks. Always confirm season dates with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

Where do Mississippi's ducks come from?

Mississippi fills from the Arkansas Delta and west Tennessee, straight down the river. Arkansas is a state DuckCast already scores, and so is Missouri above it, which makes this the bottom of a second chain: Missouri to Arkansas to Mississippi. When the Grand Prairie freezes, this is where those birds land. DuckCast reads conditions across the Arkansas Delta and west Tennessee and watches for the freeze that pushes birds south, so a MS hunter sees the push building before it arrives.

Which parts of Mississippi does DuckCast cover?

All 9 regions: North Delta, Central Delta, South Delta, North Hills Reservoirs, East Prairie and Noxubee, Central and the Pearl, Southwest River Bottoms, Pine Belt, Coastal Marsh. Each gets its own daily score. Locations are always region-level; DuckCast never collects or shows exact hunting spots.

Does DuckCast use weather radar in Mississippi?

Yes. DuckCast decodes raw NEXRAD Level II volumes from the 4 National Weather Service radar sites covering Mississippi, and reads how much bird mass lifted off after sunset and which way it tracked. Separately, 8 upstream weather stations across the Arkansas Delta and west Tennessee feed the freeze line; those are weather reports, not radar. Radar sees every bird in the air, not just ducks, so read it as evidence that a migration happened rather than a duck count.

When is the best time to duck hunt in Mississippi?

For green-winged teal, the modelled peak in Mississippi falls around early January, and the strongest hunting is usually the weeks on either side of it. Inside that window the best mornings follow a cold front with a hard freeze across the Arkansas Delta and west Tennessee and a north wind behind it, which is exactly what the daily MS score measures. Season dates are set by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, and the peak is a modelled typical year rather than a promise about this one.

Where can I find a Mississippi waterfowl report?

Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks publishes the official Mississippi regulations and, during the season, survey counts and reports, so start there for anything legal. DuckCast adds a daily migration score for each of the 9 MS regions, built from live weather, the freeze across the Arkansas Delta and west Tennessee, crop progress and hunter reports, and each morning it reads NEXRAD radar to say whether birds actually moved over the region after dark. Hunter reports filed in the app are generalized to the region, never to a spot.