Those of you who
have put up wood duck boxes
on your property will be
watching these days for the
first eggs
of the season. Some
wood ducks will already
have started their clutches but
others will delay until the
middle
of June. Maybe these
are late arrivals from the
south, while the early layers are
winter residents. Whatever
the reason, the later clutches
almost always contain fewer
eggs than the earlier
ones. It is quite
interesting to watch the male wood
duck trying to convince
the female to enter the nest
box. He stands on top of the
box, whistling softly,
and peering down at the entrance
hole, then looking back
encouragingly at her as she stands
on a nearby limb.
Getting no response, he drops
to the entrance hole and enters the box Himself. After a
brief inspection,
he appears at the hole again and flies
out to Join his mate on the
branch. After more soft
whistles and head-bobbings, he
finally convinces her and she drops to the entrance hole
for her own inspection of her
new home.
The next morning a
shiny new egg laid in a
small depression in the shavings, shows that she has
accepted
her mate's choice.
Contrary to popular belief, the male does not desert the female during incubation of the eggs. I have watched them return many times from feeding, and always they fly close together towards their nest tree and as they come abreast of the nest box, the female drops quickly to the entrance hole and male continues on as though nothing has happened. He lands either in the slough below or in the river beyond, where he may join other males in feeding, or just rest by himself until it is time again for the female to leave the box. Then she will peer out the hole and call softly. At his answer whistle she leaves the box and joins him on the water.
Wood ducks are sociable creatures and even though there may be empty boxes nearby, they will often double up in one box. Sometimes three or even four females will share the same box. One such box we had must have been shared by four females, since four new eggs appeared every day until there were 29 eggs in the box. These eggs were incubated for the full time, but only 19 eggs hatched. The pile of eggs was so
Contrary to popular belief, the male does not desert the female during incubation of the eggs. I have watched them return many times from feeding, and always they fly close together towards their nest tree and as they come abreast of the nest box, the female drops quickly to the entrance hole and male continues on as though nothing has happened. He lands either in the slough below or in the river beyond, where he may join other males in feeding, or just rest by himself until it is time again for the female to leave the box. Then she will peer out the hole and call softly. At his answer whistle she leaves the box and joins him on the water.
Wood ducks are sociable creatures and even though there may be empty boxes nearby, they will often double up in one box. Sometimes three or even four females will share the same box. One such box we had must have been shared by four females, since four new eggs appeared every day until there were 29 eggs in the box. These eggs were incubated for the full time, but only 19 eggs hatched. The pile of eggs was so
deep that obviously
the lower eggs suffered from
lack of heat and the duck
could never reach them to turn
them over. When females share
the same box they also
share the incubating chores.
The first time we knew two
females were laying in the
same box, we watched to see
who would do the incubating.
We saw the one pair rise from
the river and fly past the
entrance hole, make a wide
circle and then come back to
the tree. The duck must have
given some kind of signal
to the female who was
incubating because, before the
first pair returned to complete
their circle, she appeared
at the entrance hole and
flew out to join her mate in
the river below. As she left
the nest, the other female
flew in and took over. We saw
this happen many times, both
with these two pairs and
with others who shared
boxes over the 12 years we have
been observing them.
We were curious to
see, also, who would take
over the brood when they
hatched, so when we saw one day,
that the eggs were
pipped, we knew the little ones would jump the next
morning. We stationed
ourselves
near the tree, at
about 7 in the morning. Below
the tree, in thicket, we could
see the other pair of wood
ducks waiting. Soon the female in
the box poked her head
out the entrance hole.
Looking carefully around she checked
the situation and
finding everything peaceful, she
dropped to the river below.
In answer
to her soft call,
two tiny wood ducks appeared in
the hole. Peeping wildly, they
pushed themselves out into
space and dropped, light as
thistledown, forty feet to the
ground below. Picking themselves
up, they gave a little
shake and hurried off in the
direction of their mother's
voice. Twelve more followed
them and all of them went
to the calling female.
The other pair of wood ducks watched from the river and when all the young paddled off with their mother, they turned and flew off in the opposite direction, presumably to spend the summer free of the cares of parenthood. Sometimes the eggs are, for unknown reasons, infertile. Occasionally, when this happens, the duck incubates them far longer than the usual 32 days. We had one duck who spent 69 days trying to hatch nine infertile eggs! Finally we threw the eggs out to prevent her from spending her entire summer in frustration in the nest box. Whatever happens, wood ducks are interesting creatures, and lucky is he or she who has a pair nesting nearby. Measurements for wood duck boxes can be obtained on line
The other pair of wood ducks watched from the river and when all the young paddled off with their mother, they turned and flew off in the opposite direction, presumably to spend the summer free of the cares of parenthood. Sometimes the eggs are, for unknown reasons, infertile. Occasionally, when this happens, the duck incubates them far longer than the usual 32 days. We had one duck who spent 69 days trying to hatch nine infertile eggs! Finally we threw the eggs out to prevent her from spending her entire summer in frustration in the nest box. Whatever happens, wood ducks are interesting creatures, and lucky is he or she who has a pair nesting nearby. Measurements for wood duck boxes can be obtained on line
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