Wood Duck Nesting Boxes

Our neighborhood has really gotten into our "Woodies" or Wood Ducks and we have several nesting boxes scattered around our cove. Some sources would say we have too many too close together. But the Woodies aren't reading those sources! This is a design enhanced by our own local Duck Lady. The first shows the hand carved male Woodie (not bad for an amateur carver!), the second shows the Plexiglas shield that holds the nest in the box while we sneak a peek occasionally (it can be lifted in it's slot for cleaning out an old nest) and the third shows it mounted over at Buster's house. It's been a very successful lake home!

What you can't see is the hardware cloth installed below the opening on the front. The babies use it to pull themselves up and out of the box when mama calls (within 24 hours of birth). They must fall at least 5 feet to get their little digestive systems started! It's amazing..they hit the water running to mama! See my sidebar link to Michelle's Rambling Woods, too. She just ran a beautiful series of photos of Wood Ducks with a great story!

Home Sweet Home

You've seen some of my wood duck and mallard babies. I thought you might like to see one of the wood duck nesting boxes. This one was built by our neighborhood "duck lady". She carves the duck head on the front. Some of her boxes have both the male and female heads. The 2nd shot shows the inside. There is a Plexiglas panel that enables you to see the nest without disturbing the eggs. It can be lifted to clean the box out after the hatching. We Inn-Keepers put cedar shavings in the box and when mom builds her nest, she adds soft down. Right below the hole (always football shaped) is a piece of hardware cloth. The ducks have a hooked beak and they climb up that wire and tumble out of the box when called out by their mothers at 24 hours of age. It is imperative that they fall ... at least 5 feet and up to 15 feet ... because the impact with the ground or water somehow jump-starts their little digestive systems. If they don't fall out within 24 hours, they can starve to death. It is incredible to see them ... when she calls, they come tumbling out of there one after the other and practically walk on water to get to her. In the last photo you'll see a vertical piece of wood near the top. This is what causes the box to tilt slightly forward when it's mounted on a post (usually on a boat dock or retaining wall, so they can fall into the water). We have 8 boxes within view of our deck in our neighborhood and it is great fun to watch them! If you look in the distance in the first photo, you can see a green box on a post at the wall of Buster's yard. Obviously, the subject box today was just posing for pictures and not actually available for occupation!

Windy day on the water....

Quite rough today but here's a brave little wood duck taking her new babies out for a swim. They are so skittish that I had to really zoom, so it's not very clear. I counted 5 babies but there may be more. We've seen them with up to 15.