Habitat
Wood Ducks thrive in bottomland forests, swamps, fresh water marshes, and beaver ponds. They are besides common along streams of all sizes, from brook to rivers, and the absolute extent of these make them an authoritative habitat. wood Ducks seem to fare best when outdoors water alternates with 50–75 % vegetative binding that the ducks can hide and forage in. This cover can consist of polish trees, shrubs such as alder, willow, and buttonbush, vitamin a well as emergent herbaceous plants such as arrowhead and smartweeds. Back to top
Food
Wood Ducks eat seeds, fruits, insects and early arthropods. When aquatic foods are unavailable they may take to dry land to eat acorns and early nuts from forests and grain from fields. Diet studies indicate a batch of variability, but plant materials make up 80 % or more of what the species eats. Examples of food eaten include acorns, soybeans, smartweed, water primrose, panic eatage, duckweed, millet, waterlily, blackberries and angry cherries, equally well as flies, beetles, caterpillars, isopods, and snails. Back to top
Nesting
Nest Placement
Breeding pairs search for cuddle cavities during early good morning. The male stands outside as the female enters and examines the web site. They typically choose a tree more than 1 animal foot and frequently 2 feet in diameter, with a pit anywhere from 2–60 feet senior high school ( higher sites seem to be preferred ). These cavities are typically places where a branch has broken off and the corner ‘s heartwood has subsequently rotted. Woodpecker cavities are used less frequently. wood Ducks can not make their own cavities. The nest corner is normally situated near to or over water system, though Wood Ducks will use cavities up to 1.2 miles from water .
Nest Description
Nest cavities can have openings deoxyadenosine monophosphate small as 4 inches across, and these may be preferred because they are harder for predators to enter. wood Ducks sometimes function much larger openings, up to a couple of feet across. Cavity depths are variable star ; they average about 2 feet deep but in decayed trees can be 15 feet bass ( the young use their claw feet to climb out ). Nest boxes of many designs have proved very popular and successful with Wood Ducks, though credit card nest boxes can overheat in strong sunlight. The female lines the nest with down feathers she takes from her breast.
Nesting Facts
Clutch Size: | 6-16 eggs |
Number of Broods: | 1-2 broods |
Egg Length: | 1.8-2.4 in (4.6-6.1 cm) |
Egg Width: | 1.4-1.6 in (3.5-4.2 cm) |
Incubation Period: | 28-37 days |
Nestling Period: | 56-70 days |
Egg Description: | Glossy creamy white to tan. |
Condition at Hatching: | Chicks hatch alert and with a full coat of down. A day after hatching they leave the nest by jumping out of the entrance. |
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Behavior
Wood Ducks feed by dabbling or short, shallow dives. They are potent fliers and can reach speeds of 30 miles per hour. forest Ducks are not territorial, with the exception that a male may fight off early males that approach his mate excessively close. Courting males swim before a female with wings and tail elevated, sometimes tilting the head backwards for a few seconds. Males may besides perform ritualize drink, preen, and shaking movements. Both members of a pair may preen each other. Egg-dumping, or “ intraspecies sulk parasitism ” is common in Wood Ducks—females visit early Wood Duck cavities, lay eggs in them, and leave them to be raised by the other female. This may have been made more common by the abundance and conspicuousness of artificial nest boxes ; in some areas it happens in more than half of all nests. person females typically lay 10-11 eggs per cling to, but some very full nests have been found containing 29 eggs, the solution of egg-dumping. Back to top
Conservation
wood Ducks are found throughout the year in the U.S. and populations increased between 1966 and 2019, according to the north american Breeding Bird Survey. Partners in Flight estimates the global reproduction population at 4.6 million and rates them 7 out of 20 on the Continental Concern Score, indicating a species of humble conservation concern. This is good news program, considering their dramatic declines from hunting in the late nineteenth century. flush then, Wood Ducks are moment only to Mallards in the number of ducks shot by hunters every year. As cavity cuddle birds, they rely on absolutely trees which are often in unretentive supply. Providing predator-resistant nest boxes near ponds has a positive effect on population increase.
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Credits
Hepp, Gary R. and Frank C. Bellrose. ( 2013 ). Wood Duck ( Aix sponsa ), translation 2.0. In The Birds of North America ( P. G. Rodewald, editor program ). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. Lutmerding, J. A. and A. S. Love. ( 2020 ). Longevity records of north american birds. translation 2020. Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Bird Banding Laboratory 2020. Partners in Flight. ( 2020 ). avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2020.
Sauer, J. R., D. K. Niven, J. E. Hines, D. J. Ziolkowski Jr., K. L. Pardieck, J. E. Fallon, and W. A. Link ( 2019 ). The north american Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966–2019. version 2.07.2019. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD, USA. Sibley, D. A. ( 2014 ). The Sibley Guide to Birds, second edition. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY, USA. back to top
I am broadly interested in how human activities influence the ability of wildlife to persist in the modified environments that we create.
Specifically, my research investigates how the configuration and composition of landscapes influence the movement and population dynamics of forest birds. Both natural and human-derived fragmenting of habitat can influence where birds settle, how they access the resources they need to survive and reproduce, and these factors in turn affect population demographics. Most recently, I have been studying the ability of individuals to move through and utilize forested areas which have been modified through timber harvest as they seek out resources for the breeding and postfledging phases. As well I am working in collaboration with Parks Canada scientists to examine in the influence of high density moose populations on forest bird communities in Gros Morne National Park. Many of my projects are conducted in collaboration or consultation with representatives of industry and government agencies, seeking to improve the management and sustainability of natural resource extraction.