As climate change induced fires, floods, cyclones, droughts and extreme heat rage across the Australian Continent, in just 7 weeks from the time of writing, the native duck and quail season will commence and the slaughter will begin again.

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So Watt’s Not? Bird populations

As state governments pretend that watt they are doing is sustainable, they are clearly not, bird populations are in freefall, with the organisation Regional Victorians opposed to duck shooting describing the outcome of the latest EAAWS waterbird survey thus:

“Despite significant flood events in 2025, the abundance of most “game” Duck species remains well below long-term averages. Five species continue to show significant long-term decline. Of particular concern, several species, Black Duck, Mountain Duck and Australasian Shoveler, recorded significant declines in the number of wetland sites they occupied, suggesting contractions in their geographic range. Breeding activity was limited almost entirely to just five non-duck species”.

Our own travels confirm that we see very few ducks amid what remains of waterbird populations. The constant killing of birdlife, not only because of ‘recreation’ but also as a result of state governments issuing ‘harms’ permits to kill Australian birdlife at scale, combined with the continuing series of catastrophic climate events, mean that only one result is possible. That is of course, the ongoing decline of birdlife in Australia.

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So Watt’s Watt? Where is the mass killing of birdlife going to happen?

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Australian ‘protected’ Duck and Geese (NT) species

Public (including Ramsar Sites) and private wetlands in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory; and

Private land (particularly rice paddies) In New South Wales.

Australian ‘protected’ Quail species

Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.

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So Watt’s Watt? Watt do we know so far in 2026?

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South Australia

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Shockingly the South Australian Government have announced their 2026 season for ducks and quail despite all that has happened, including the catastrophic Algal bloom affecting the Southern Fleurieu Peninsula, Coorong North Lagoon, Yorke Peninsula, Kangaroo Island, Spencer Gulf and Gulf St Vincent causing significant damage to the Coorong. As I write this temperatures in South Australia remain at catastrophic levels with South Australia’s Country Fire Authority issuing the following warning on 23 January 2026:

“Weather conditions are leading to Catastrophic Fire Danger Ratings for the Eastern Eyre Peninsula and Yorke Peninsula districts and Extreme ratings for the West Coast, Lower Eyre Peninsula, Mid North, Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, Murraylands, Upper South East and Lower South East”.

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The South Australian Government’s plan for 2026 is as follows.

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Ducks

Duck shooting commences at sunrise on Saturday 21 March 2026 and ends at sunset on Sunday 28 June 2026.

For the 2026 open season, the protected species permitted for duck hunting are:

• Grey Teal
• Chestnut Teal
• Pacific Black Duck
• Australian Shelduck or Mountain Duck
• Wood Duck

“On any day of the open season, a person must not take more than eight (8) ducks of the permitted species listed above”. Government of South Australia

NOTE: South Australia has six internationally significant Ramsar wetlands: The Coorong, Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Wetland, Bool Lagoon and Hacks Lagoons, Banrock Station Wetland Complex, Riverland, Coongie Lakes, and Piccaninnie Ponds Karst Wetlands, protecting vital habitats for waterbirds and diverse species along the Murray River and coastal areas, managed under the Ramsar Convention for conservation.

While there are restrictions to where shooting can occur this year, we find at least one, Mud Islands, particularly shocking and where general open season conditions are likely to apply:

"Mud Islands Game Reserve is comprised of 10 small islands in Lake Alexandrina. It forms part of the Coorong and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert Ramsar Wetland and is located around 19 km from south-east of Goolwa. It is only accessible by boat".

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Quail

• Shooting Stubble Quail for ‘recreation’ begins at sunrise on Saturday 25 April 2026 and ends at sunset on Sunday 2 August 2026.
• Only Stubble Quail can be shot during the 2026 Quail season. All other Quail species are not permitted for hunting (e.g. Brown Quail, King Quail and Button Quail).
• On any day of the open season, a person must not take more than 15 Stubble Quail.
• The stubble quail open season applies to the whole of South Australia excluding: all reserves and sanctuaries constituted under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972, all wilderness protection areas, all wilderness protection zones constituted under the Wilderness Protection Act 1992 and all sanctuary zones within any marine park established under the Marine Parks Act 2007.

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Victoria (Watt’s likely)

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When it comes to the treatment of biodiversity Victoria joins South Australia in the globally very bad category. Despite the climate risks and uncertainty and following a Victorian Government  inquiry that recommended that duck shooting should be banned, not only did things not improve, they got worse, the state’s environment minister promising shooters:

“We’re also giving hunters certainty about future seasons with the dates for the next three years set out in the Wildlife (Game) Regulations”.

The Victorian Government knows how to hold its fire and is unlikely to announce the details of the scale of and range of species which can be killed, thus not giving the public time to raise concerns about the terrible things that are to occur on Victoria’s wetlands. The situation is becoming increasingly dangerous and the standards of governance are so poor and prejudicial that it is hard to contemplate how the Victorian Government gets away with it.

A leading shooters organisation is stating that:

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Ducks

The 2026 Victorian Duck shooting season will run from 8 a.m. on Wednesday, 18th March 2026, to 30 minutes after sunset on Monday, 8th June 2026.

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Quail

The Quail shooting season opens on the first Saturday of April and closes on the last day of June. Hunting is permitted from 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset throughout the season.

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Tasmania (Watt’s likely)

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For Tasmania's 2026 seasons,  Duck shooting occurs from 7 March to 8 June and Brown Quail shooting from 16 May to 28 June. with seasons opening and closing around long weekends in March and June respectively

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So Watt’s Watt? Recent history and scale of killing

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Victoria

Ducks

The Victorian Government announced that the 2025 duck season would open at 8:00am on Wednesday, 19 March 2025 and close 30 minutes after sunset on Sunday, 9 June 2025.

• The hunting start time was 8:00am until 30 minutes after sunset for the first five days, then from 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset for the remainder of the season.
• The daily bag limit was nine ducks per day per shooter.
• 7 duck species can be hunted. These are the Pacific Black Duck, Mountain Duck, Pink-eared Duck, Wood Duck, Hardhead, Chestnut Teal and Grey Teal.
• 1 protected species not permitted for duck hunting in 2025 is the Blue-winged Shoveler.

Number killed in 2024: 391,900.

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Stubble Quail

• Shooting commenced on the first Saturday of April and closes on the last day of June. Shooting was permitted from 30 minutes before sunrise until 30 minutes after sunset throughout the season.
• Bag limit: Maximum 20 birds per day per shooter.

Number killed in 2024: 457,399.

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South Australia

Ducks

• Duck open season began at sunrise on Saturday 22 March 2025 and ends at sunset on Sunday 29 June 2025.
• 5 game duck species may be hunted. These are the Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal, Pacific Black Duck, Mountain Duck and Wood Duck.
• The 3 protected species not permitted for duck hunting in 2025 are the Pink-eared Duck, Hardhead and Blue-winged Shoveler.
• Bag limit: Maximum 6 birds per day except the Mountain Duck at 2 birds per day.

Number killed in 2024: An estimated 25,800 ducks were taken during the 2024 open season over approximately 4,500 hunter days.

NOTE: In 2024, 1,405 duck and 240 quail hunters held permits in South Australia. Approximately one third of South Australian duck permits are typically held by interstate hunters. For context, Victoria generally has over 20,000 duck hunters and 25,000 quail hunters holding permits.

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Stubble Quail only in 2025

• Quail open season began at sunrise on Saturday 26 April 2025 and ended at sunset on Sunday 27 July 2025.
• Bag limit: 15 Stubble Quail per day.

Number killed in 2024: 120,000.

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Tasmania

Ducks

• The 2025 season ran from Saturday 8 March to 9 June 2025 with shooting permitted from one hour prior to sunrise until one hour after sunset.
• 5 duck species were hunted. These are Pacific Black duck, Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal, Mountain Duck and Wood Duck.
• Bag limit: 10 ducks per day.

Number killed in 2024: 45,000-50,000 estimate.

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Brown Quail only 2025

• The 2025 season ran from Saturday 17 May to 29 June 2025. No times stated but daylight hours likely.
• Bag Limit: 20 birds per day per shooter.
• 2 species not to be shot. These were the Stubble Quail and Painted Quail.

Number killed in 2024: 45,000.

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Mutton Birds (Short-tailed Shearwater)

• The 2025 season commenced 29 March to 13 April.
• Bag limit is 25 birds per recreational hunter per colony.

Number killed unknown.

NOTE: Mutton Birds are long distance commuters, migrating annually from Australia to Japan, then via Siberia to the north of Alaska.

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Northern Territory

In the NT the ‘goose and waterfowl hunting season’ typically commences on private land in mid-August, and on public land towards the end of 25 September through to early January.

Bird species shot were:

• Magpie Goose
• Pacific Black Duck
• Grey Teal
• Hardhead
• Wood Duck
• Wandering Whistling Duck
• Plumed Whistling Duck
• Pink-eared Duck

Bar limits:

• Magpie Goose: 7 birds per day per hunter; and
• Duck species: 10 birds per day per hunter.

Number killed annually: 230,000 Estimate based on NT Government data.

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Ducks in context: Number of protected Australian wildlife killed at government behest in 2024 by state and territory

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• Australian Capital Territory – 17,000
• New South Wales – 970,000
• Northern Territory – 280,000
• Queensland – 969,000
• South Australia – 243,000
• Tasmania – 700,000
• Victoria – 1,158,000
• Western Australia – 300,000

TOTAL 4,637,000

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NOTE: Recreation is not the only way protected birdlife in Australia (Australian species) are killed on mass. Everything from a tiny Welcome Swallow to an Emu can be killed if you ask for a permit. The numbers given in this story that report the government estimates for the number of birds killed in the states and territories because of ‘recreation’ are as subset of the total wildlife numbers given immediately above, which do not include deaths as a result of climate events, floods, heat and fire, nor land clearing etc which appear to be increasing each year.

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