Watching wood ducks - up close.

One of the things I love most about living where we do, is the constant barrage of nature.

Turtles, frogs, turkeys, fox, coyotes, deer, birds of all sorts and lots and lots of ducks (I really don't enjoy the geese....). We have nature in the city. We live near a nature center, golf course and on a pond - which means an abundance of nearby habitat.

In the past, our family raised some orphaned mallards* (that was an experience!), closely observed a house finch family *(adorable) and are now just beginning to learn about wood ducks - thanks in part to a neighbor who suggested that we needed to get a wood duck box. Ok - let's do it.Wood Ducks are (according to Wikipedia) "a medium-sized perching duck. [They are] about three-quarters of the length of an adult mallard. Their breeding habitat is wooded swamps, shallow lakes, marshes or ponds, and creeks in eastern North America, the west coast of the United States and western Mexico. They usually nest in cavities in trees close to water, although they will take advantage of nesting boxes in wetland locations if available."

Male wood duck (credit Wikipedia)

Female wood duck (credit Wikipedia)

I ordered my wood duck nesting box on Etsy, and my husband installed it near our shoreline using a post and some cement to keep it in place. The box came with cedar shavings for nesting material and we added a cone baffle to keep out squirrels and raccoons (in the south, snakes can be a problem). Predators are a big issue for wood ducks so it's good to take the proper precautions to insure the safety of the ducks. Boxes can be mounted on trees and fence posts as well - but they are less safe for the birds.

My box came with a door on the side to clean and observe. I used it to peek inside the other day and was surprised to find a hen already nesting inside! We scared each other quite a bit and she flew out in a huff. I think for a while, we'll try to observe her more stealthly, using my phone camera and the entrance hole, rather than opening up the side.

Wood duck nesting box, ordered on www.etsy.com

Skyler

I've been reading up on wood ducks, and apparently they lay around a dozen eggs, one per day. After they have all been laid, they will begin to hatch in a month. My daughter has named the hen "Skyler". I'm going to peek in on Skyler every few days to see if anything changes.... 

                                             
Check back and watch and learn with us!

*Note: Click on the links above to follow us in past years as we learned about mallards and house finches!