Canvasbacks breed in the prairie pothole region of North America. They prefer permanent prairie marshes surrounded by emergent vegetation, such as cattails and bulrushes, which provide protective cover. Canvasbacks migrate through the Mississippi Flyway to wintering grounds in the mid-Atlantic United States and Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV), or the Pacific Flyway to wintering grounds along the coast of California. The canvasback population is continuing to rebound from the low levels experienced in the late 1980's and early '90's. The 1998 breeding population survey was 700,000 ducks, which is above the North