![]() When the departure takes place it is a very speedy exit. At first the female sits in the nesting box’s opening, making sure that no intruders are evident. Watch a video from one of our duck cams showing the mass exodus. Young have been known to leap from nesting sites as high as 60 feet. After hatching, the young only stay in the nest 24 hours before exiting. The chicks will fledge (fly) in 56-70 days. Most wood ducks have one brood per season but occasionally two will be reared. Records as high as 40 have been recorded. Clutches are normally 8-15 eggs but dumping could increase this to a number beyond successful incubation. There are around 15 eggs total at this point. I have a wood duck house I built up in my backyard, and this year we have had two wood ducks and a hooded merganser lay eggs in it. One behavior adopted by female wood ducks is called dumping, where they lay eggs in another wood duck’s nest employing a strategy of surrogate parenting. Hatching 2 2 9 Hello, friends My name is Josh and I am having some issues with wood ducks right now. Just one day after hatching, young wood duck chicks leave the nest.Ĭredit: Stan Tekiela, Maurice River has constructed a number of nesting boxes for wood ducks and has had some success attracting the species. Today conservationists have established man-made nesting box programs to mitigate this loss. Because old forests are rare, larger cavity-nesting birds like wood ducks find it especially difficult to find sizeable trees to incubate their eggs. Urban sprawl has also diminished forested habitat for cavity nesters. Few ancient forests remain in North America in fact, Bear Swamp is the only primeval forest in Southern NJ. During the Industrial Revolution trees were cut for cordwood to fire the furnaces that ran machines in US factories. Hunting regulations and conservation measures, spearheaded by hunters, have been helping wood duck numbers to recover.Īn additional factor in the decline of the wood duck population was the loss of our country’s mature forests. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1816 has since protected and controlled bird populations. ![]() These waterfowl were especially vulnerable because they roost in groups. Wood ducks were driven to near-extinction by habitat loss and market hunters in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. ![]() Market hunters Credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service Other cavity nesters include bufflehead, goldeneye, and mergansers. Because they nest in tree cavities, wood ducks are one of the few species of waterfowl with strong claws on their webbed feet, designed for climbing bark. Adults prefer plants, seeds, and aquatic and land invertebrates. Their diet consists of invertebrates and small fish. Monogamous for the breeding season, wood ducks’ lifespans are about four years. It is approximately 19 inches long with a wingspan of approximately 28-39 inches. As is commonly the case in birds, the male’s plumage is more colorful than the female’s. Pair of wood ducks Credit: Stan Tekiela, NatureSmart wood duck is clearly one of North America’s most beautiful waterfowl.
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