Wood Ducks - any resident experts?

[WBWI]

I have 2 small ponds on the property I recently bought. The previous owner had built 2 wood duck houses and intalled them on steel poles about 6 feet above the water level. Last winter my son and I took them down to clean them out and make basic repairs. We put them out with new shaved/chipped wood as nesting material. Yesterday the weather was decent enough to get out and open the boxes to see if the wood duck hens we saw in the spring had laid any eggs. We never saw ducklings so we weren't sure if the houses were used or not. The first house we opened had definitely been used. We found 15 eggs in the nesting material. Most looked to be intact with little evidence of hatching. The second box was also used and we found eggs in it too but only 2-3 whole eggs.

Any ideas on the poor hatch results? Maybe the nesting material was too deep and the eggs "sufficated"?

These 2 houses are on the same pond and about 30 feet apart.

We have another set of houses on the other pond but my neighbor helped put them up and was not available yesterday to open them.

 

[RobertN]

Google Ducks Unlimited. They would have resources. You state Fish and Game dept should have info too.

There are some pretty goods plans out there for boxes; maybe compare those with yours.

 

[RobertN]

Google Ducks Unlimited. They would have resources. You state Fish and Game dept should have info too.

There are some pretty goods plans out there for boxes; maybe compare those with yours.

EEK! - Critter Corner - The Brilliant Wood Duck

http://www.calwaterfowl.org/web2/programs/woodduck/woodduckpdfs/woodduck_nest_plans.pdf

California Waterfowl Association

 

[WBWI]

Thanks Robert. These are such handsome birds. I'd love to see a successful hatch this year and in years to come.

 

[Egon]

Out at the lake by "The Play Farm" there are Wood Ducks. I have one box set up not to far from the campsite. The neighbour has a nesting box set up about 1/4 mile away. This box has produced young for the last two years.

I have hopes of setting out at least two boxes on the Marge's of a swamp on our land.

A few years ago while having breakfast in the camper parked beside the lake several Wood Ducks landed in a tree right beside the camper and spent several minutes admiring my porridge. It looked as though they wished to partake. It was definitely strange seeing a duck sitting on a tree branch.

 

[WBWI]

I think I counted 12 males on one pond last spring. There were 3-4 hens if I remember correctly. These were very skittish and flew at the slighest hint of human movement.

I have a new digital SLr camera with telephoto lens so maybe I can get some photos this year. I can't imagine them coming close enough to dine with me :

 

[fishman]

WBWI,

Wood ducks are territorial, and your boxes are too close together. Take one down and you'll likely have better success.

In areas with high densities of wood ducks, or where there are boxes close together, wood ducks can utilize what is called "dump nesting". In some cases the original hen will continue to set the eggs, but often they abandon them. This may have happened with the box that had 15 eggs in it.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional waterfowl biologist, but I occasionally play one on the phone.