The Izaak Walton Legue is committed to creating better wildlife habits, including putting out wood duck nesting boxes.
Each year we need to clean and repair the wood duck boxes. This is always done in late winter; usually February.
Thanks to Al Harding, Penny Dwiel and Benita Lackajs for their help this year. We are all set for the 2023 arrival of the birds.
Wood ducks normally return to this area between the last 2 weeks March – first 2 weeks of April, depending on weather.
They have been known to arrive earlier than that. It all depends on how mild the previous winter was.
A quick recap of the 2022 season: This year’s clean out had no surprises; no squirrels jumping out , owls flying out, or bee hives. We had 12 boxes setup , 10 of them had evidence of eggs, 1 had owl feathers and 1 was clean (excellent occupancy percentages).
This year (2023) we have 13 boxes setup. The birds should be here soon. They are very skittish. But keep an eye out for them , they are quite beautiful.
You can also identify them by their calls. Here is a link to recordings of several of their calls.
Here is a link to a video on how they jump from the boxes and get to the river.
Enjoy.
Helmuts Lackajs
WOOD DUCK BOX CHAIRMAN
Want to learn more? Visit https://birdfact.com/articles/female-wood-ducks
Sponsor a wood duck box, volunteer, or make a donation to help protect our nations precious resources.
Comments