Tucked away in North Park, Colo., an ambitious research project has quietly taken flight. For the past seven years, Adam Behney and Casey Setash — a married team working for Colorado Parks and Wildlife — have been leading efforts to gather extensive data on the region’s waterfowl. From population dynamics and breeding activity to habitat use and migration patterns, their goal is clear: Identify key nesting habitats and ensure that restoration efforts focus on the places that matter most to these birds. Beyond guiding local conservation efforts, insights gained here will also help improve wetland management across the western United States.
For Behney and Setash, this work transcends profession — it’s a deeply personal vocation. Their partnership is as much about shared goals in protecting natural resources as it is about supporting each other in their work. And it was through this shared purpose — along with their mutual passion for wildlife, conservation, and hunting — that their connection first deepened.
As the sun set over a quiet North Park reservoir one September evening, the tranquil hush was shattered by the roar of an airboat engine. These flat-bottomed boats used to navigate shallow waters may annoy nearby campers, but on this night, science takes priority over silence — at least for the next several hours. This was one of Behney’s three scheduled outings on the lake for the fieldwork season, a capture operation he now leads with precision after nearly a decade of work with CPW.
Seated in the captain’s chair, Behney piloted the airboat over the lake, guiding a team of staff and volunteers and ensuring each crew member’s role seamlessly contributed to the night’s objectives. Joined by three others — one spotlighter riding shotgun and two netters positioned below on either side of the bow — the crew’s objective was a straightforward one: with help from the spotlighter, maneuver the boat around the lake while the netters scoop up ducks and place them into a holding crate for transport back to the processing site. By the next morning, these birds will be fitted with lightweight aluminum bands, each engraved with a unique code that allows researchers to track their movements and life histories. Together, these efforts form the backbone of a larger project aimed at understanding waterfowl populations and informing conservation strategies across North America.
“We believe North Park is an important breeding ground for ducks,” Behney said. “We think a lot of ducks are nesting in the area, but we lack the data to show just how many there are, where they’re going, and what types of habitats they’re using. All of this information will help us figure out how we can best spend our time and resources on habitat restoration.”
Research in the area dates back to the 1970s, making this project a much-anticipated return to North Park. While the most recent efforts occurred roughly 15 years ago, current research is being driven by the urgent recognition of Colorado’s declining water resources. “Many high-elevation basins are seeing their water resources just disappear,” Behney said. “North Park is one of the few places in Colorado where we still have a good amount of water on the landscape, even as other areas, like the San Luis Valley and South Park, are losing theirs.”
As with any good research, data must be collected before results can be analyzed. At the heart of this process is the time-honored practice of bird banding, where staff secure small metal bands to a bird’s leg. The first records of this practice in North America come to us in volumes from John James Audubon’s Ornithological Biography. In 1804, Audubon tied bits of silver wire around the legs of Eastern Phoebes near his Pennsylvania home to study their behavior, marking one of science’s earliest bird banding experiments. Today, the data collected through banding contributes to a broader framework spanning North America’s four major flyways. And since birds migrate across human borders, the information collected by CPW staff is used to inform conservation efforts and hunting regulations on both national and international scales.
As the airboat fell silent and Behney’s crew finally packed up operations around 1:30 a.m., it marked the end of a long night on Lake John, and a new day was about to begin. About 10 miles south, with the sun slowly lighting up the 26,000 acres of Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge, Casey Setash was ready to start the day. Despite those late nights on the airboat, staff and volunteers must regroup each morning to check multiple swim-in traps placed strategically in small lakes and ponds around the refuge.
Usually baited with corn, these traps are designed to allow ducks to enter easily while making escape difficult. Ducks are then transferred to a small temporary holding pen and carried to shore, where data is collected while bands are fitted. Recaptured birds are noted and subsequently released.
Setash officially stepped into her full-time role with CPW in the summer of 2023, but her involvement with this project dates back to its inception. In 2018, she participated in fieldwork as a crew leader while finishing her master’s and doctorate degrees at Colorado State University. “I’ve always loved birds, but it wasn’t until college that I realized I could build a career around them,” she said.
Setash’s work has taken her from Alaska to Mongolia, but studying ducks at home in Colorado has remained a favorite. “I just really like ducks,” she said. “They’re really interesting and one of the most well-studied taxa out there.”
It was during this tenure in graduate school, in the midst of her research, when Setash first met Behney. “Our ‘meet cute’ is so incredibly duck-oriented,” she said with a laugh. “It was the first field season of my master’s project, and Adam had just started his job at CPW. He came out with me, and I showed him how to mark a duckling as it was hatching out of an egg. Our hands touched, and the rest is history.” The two biologists just celebrated their third wedding anniversary in September.
Surveys to study duck breeding populations across the continent have taken place annually since the 1950s, with the exception of 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “They’re managed at an international level to keep track of numbers,” Setash explained. “The information coming from banded birds helps to inform population size and survival.”
However, the work Setash and Behney contribute to duck conservation doesn’t stop at research. For decades, wildlife management has relied on what some may consider a surprising ally — hunters. While the connection might not seem obvious at first, the link between hunting and conservation runs deep, shaped by centuries of tradition and the practicalities of managing thriving wildlife populations.
For Setash, this connection between research and hunting wasn’t always intuitive. “I was kind of anti-hunting growing up,” she admitted. “I was even vegetarian for six years, but once I started learning about wildlife management, I recognized the importance of hunting in conservation.”
Since the late 19th century, members of the public have played a critical role in helping wildlife agencies implement what would become known as the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Rooted in the principle that wildlife is a public resource, this model emphasizes sustainable use, science-based management, and public involvement. One key component was the ban on commercial hunting, while regulated hunting became a tool for conservation. Through funding sources such as hunting licenses and taxes on firearms and certain equipment, hunters, anglers, and other outdoor enthusiasts continue to contribute to a multitude of projects focusing on habitat protection and species restoration.
For both biologists, this legacy isn’t just professional but personal. Behney, an avid hunter of the last nearly 15 years, recently returned from a caribou hunt in Alaska. This enthusiasm not only fuels his work as a biologist but also nourishes his spirit — for him, hunting offers a profound connection to the landscapes he cherishes and devotes himself to conserving.
“This project has been so rewarding for me because I’m a duck hunter and generally a duck enthusiast,” Behney said. “It’s really fulfilling to work on a project that may lead to better habitat for ducks, which ultimately may produce more ducks, and I think the area is really important because you don’t think of Colorado as being a real ducky state. So the opportunity to study them in Colorado in this dry North Park landscape, where there hasn’t been a whole lot of previous research, has been very rewarding.”
While Setash now has a passion for pursuing big game, her initial goal was to connect with the community she aimed to serve as a biologist. “It became very clear, very quickly, that if I wanted to work with ducks — and the very passionate hunting community that comes with that work — I needed to be able to have a conversation with them,” she explained.
Setash’s first hunt took place during her master’s program. “Adam actually took me out for a duck hunt in 2016, and I vividly remember a few teal landing among the decoys,” she recalled. “I was shaking like a leaf. I missed my first shot and, to be totally honest, I was relieved.” Later that same morning, she successfully harvested her first bird — a dove. “Eating something I had prepared from start to finish felt incredibly rewarding and made me feel connected to the landscape in a way I hadn’t before,” she said. Over time, Setash’s interest in hunting deepened, evolving into a lifestyle centered on sustainable practices and conservation.
The North Park research project offers a glimpse into the complexities of wildlife management on an evolving landscape. As available breeding habitat begins to shift, conservation efforts and hunting regulations may need to adapt. Through the research unfolding in the area, Adam Behney and Casey Setash aren’t just studying ducks — they’re building a model for adaptive conservation. By combining research, collaboration, and a long-term vision, they’re working to ensure thriving waterfowl populations and cherished hunting traditions endure for the next generation.
“There are so many people doing great work,” Setash said. “Using science to move the needle — inch by inch — to improve habitats and build resilience as things change beyond our control. We’ve done a great job as a nation — alongside Canada and Mexico — bringing ducks back from extreme lows in the 1920s and again in the 1980s. When we all work together, good things happen, and now we’re seeing higher duck populations than any other bird species.”
Photos and story by Ryan Jones. Ryan is a visual coordinator for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
One Response
Has the research been published? If so, do you have a reference?
Milt Robinson, PhD