The Drake`s forest duck is considered one of the most beautiful waterfowl species in North America. In 1918, this bird was threatened with extinction due to habitat loss and hunting. The nesting box must be made of raw 1 x 12 inch cypress, redwood or treated SME wood. A lid should cover the top of the box. To facilitate inspections, install with the hinges down. Also add hooks to the lid to secure it properly. 6. Remove the drains once the seeds are ripe. Seeds usually ripen in 45 to 60 days.
Once the drains are removed, the beavers repair the dam and the millet is flooded for the ducks. Within 24 hours of hatching, down chicks leave the nest. Wooden ducks can fly between 8 and 10 weeks and quickly become independent. As they grow, they eat aquatic plants, nuts and fruits. Some of the plants they eat are duckweed and wild rice. The 1930s marked the rise of wildlife management, as well as experimentation with the use of artificial nest boxes to revive forest duck populations depleted by years of habitat loss and overfishing. Dr. Frank Bellrose, considered the father of wood duck management, and his colleague Arthur Hawkins began using nesting boxes and studying nesting female wood ducks at the Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge in Illinois. Since their pioneering efforts, nesting box programs have become popular with government agencies, conservation organizations, and individuals to study and raise forest ducks. As the name suggests, the wood duck depends on forests more than any other Alabama duck. Ideal habitat often consists of hardwood floors that house permanent ponds with lots of emergent vegetation that spreads among the bushy ceilings.
Small beaver ponds often provide good habitat in Alabama. Wood ducks feed on a variety of plant and animal matter. Deciduous vegetation, seeds and fruits make up the majority of their diet for most of the year. The small acorns of many oak trees are important winter foods in Alabama. Cereals from agricultural crops are easily consumed when available. Beaver ponds are ideal for conversion into green tree reservoirs or Japanese millet feeding grounds. If beaver ponds are new to forested areas and the trees are not dead, they can be converted into green tree reservoirs to attract wood ducks without loss for timber production. Waterfowl populations are strongly influenced by the survival of breeding female ducks, the success of nesting efforts and the survival of ducklings. These factors greatly influence recruitment, i.e. the number of ducklings that survive to join the adult population.
In graduate research at Mississippi State University in the late 1990s and early 2000s, my colleagues and I examined these factors in relation to wood ducks using nesting boxes at study sites in Mississippi and Alabama. During our research, we found that second and third nesting attempts accounted for 38-65% of all ducklings produced during the breeding season. These results underscored the importance of regular maintenance of wooden duck boxes. If we had not removed the remains of previous wood duck nesting attempts and other debris from the boxes during our monthly maintenance checks, far fewer ducklings would have been produced at our study sites. The basic breeding habitat requirements of forest ducks are nesting burrows and adjacent wetlands with trees, shrubs or dense herbaceous vegetation that provide shelter for ducklings and an abundance of aquatic insects. The use of nest boxes by forest ducks varies from region to region and is influenced by the availability of suitable natural tree hollows, proximity to attractive wetlands, and other factors. The researchers found that nesting box use by wood ducks can average 44 percent in states north of the Atlantic flyway and only 16 percent in states north of Mississippi. In the southern United States, however, it is not uncommon for 75 to 100 percent of nest boxes to be used by forest ducks in some wetlands. Although data on the availability of natural nesting burrows in the southern states have not been updated for almost 30 years, high rates of wood duck occupancy of nest boxes in this region may indicate an insufficient supply of suitable nesting sites in some areas. The diet of the forest duck includes hard and soft fattenings, insects, other aquatic invertebrates (mollusks, snails) as well as aquatic plants and seeds. Fattening is the fruit of trees and shrubs, including acorns, nuts and berries. Forest ducks feed in and around wetlands as well as in the highlands, sometimes at considerable distances from open water.
We found that the total survival of the ducklings was about 20%. However, we also found that when chickens and broods sometimes moved long distances to densely vegetated bush habitats that did not contain nesting boxes, the survival of ducklings reached 60%. Adult wood ducks weigh about 1 pound and are 17 to 20 inches in length. Their wings are relatively short but wide, allowing them to maneuver easily in narrow, woody blankets. Wood ducks, like other puddles, can immediately jump out of the water and fly. The speed of wood ducks can reach 55 miles per hour. Drake and chicken ducks form pairs until midwinter, usually from November to January in Alabama. Nesting usually begins in early February and often extends into June. Usually, eggs are laid at the rate of one per day.
After the fifth or sixth egg is laid, the hens begin to add breast to the nest. When the clutch is ready (usually 12-14 eggs) and incubation begins, the nest is covered with a cover of down feathers. The nest cover requires cavities or nest boxes located between 6 and 30 feet above the ground. Nesting holes should be within 1⁄2 mile of water, although wood ducks are known to nest up to 1 mile from water. Old trees at least 16 inches in diameter are the main source of cavities. When cave trees are not available, wood ducks gladly nest in nest boxes. Maintain at least one cavity or box per 5 acres of forest. At the base of their tails, wood ducks have a gland that secretes a wax substance that they rub on their feathers to ensure water protection. In early autumn, young ducklings begin to put on their adult plumage. Fortunately, wildlife management has protected this species to such an extent that it is now one of the most common ducks in the eastern United States.
To study the survival of the ducklings and other aspects of their ecology after the birds left our nest boxes, we equipped 135 female wood ducks and more than 400 ducklings with radio transmitters and monitored the birds from March to July. Due to the migratory and mobile nature of the forest duck, the area of origin is difficult to define. The average feed radius is 25 to 30 miles per day. Annual hikes reach hundreds of kilometers.