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Wood ducks
Tuesday, April 1, 2003
The female has been known to lay up to 16 eggs on wood chips or straw in the cavity.
Down from her breast supplements the nesting material to make a softer bed. Incubation is at least 28 days. When eggs are being laid, the male is always nearby, but after the incubation begins, he may not be seen.
After hatching, the young are coaxed out of the cavity by the female on the ground or water. Sometimes the female has been known to carry the young out of the nesting site. No matter how high the nest is off the ground, the young will pop out of the hole and fall to the ground with no harm. The young are then led by the mother to herbaceous cover to hide from predators. Buttonbush is a good cover when it is present.
The Wood Duck is quite common in this area during the warm months. It will then fly to the southern states for the winter. Sometimes, the odd one stays around in the winter if open water exists. I observed one female on the St. Clair River near Port Lambton on February 2 this past winter.
With the clearing of woodlots and draining of wetlands in recent decades, nesting sites have become scarcer. Many people now erect suitable nest boxes to attract this species. Almost any pond, waterway or swamp will suffice.
Last year I erected a duck box on a very small pond near Wallaceburg. There were several Wood Ducks around in early spring. At least one pair stayed for a while. I did not even realize that a female had laid some eggs in the box until I checked it earlier this winter. The nest had obviously been predated as there were broken eggs -- possibly by a raccoon swimming out to the box and climbing the post.
Predation is a problem. The nest box can be protected by wrapping a galvanized stove pipe around the post. This will help until the young fledge from the nest. Then they are vulnerable to other predators like mink and snapping turtles.
Nest boxes can be made of any rough lumber. The base should be in the neighbourhood of 10-11 inches square. Sides should be about 22 inches high, and have an overhanging roof. One side should be hinged for inspection and cleanout. The entry hole should be about four inches in diameter. Sometimes oblong holes are made (three inches high by 4 inches wide). On the inside of the box below the hole, some meshing such as chicken wire should be carefully attached so that the young can climb to the hole and escape. The box should be mounted to a pole at least three feet from the surface of the water, and facing herbaceous cover. The inside should be filled up to about three inches with sawdust or wood chips. I used straw in mine, and they still nested.
The attached photo shows some of the Sydenham Field Naturalists members erecting a box in a local woodlot this past winter.
