The wood duck is one of the most colorful waterfowl. This is good news considering their dramatic declines in the late 19th century. Wood ducks nest throughout Minnesota and readily use man-made nest boxes. Wood ducks and a multitude of other wildlife species respond readily to managed wetlands. They have a high mortality rate, especially when young. We do not breed white on white or silver to silver to produce our whites and silvers. Wood ducks predominantly use forested wetlands with a variety of hardwood tree species. The Australian Wood Duck can be distinguished from pygmy geese,Nettapus spp, which are smaller, have bold white face markings and are usually seen on water.Whistling ducks, Dendrocygna spp, have longer legs and necks, larger more duck-like bills and tend to walk more upright.When flying, the Australian Wood Duck is the only duck with white secondary feathers and dark wingtips. Breeding. If new wetlands are constructed with duck production in mind, wood ducks will use them for nesting, brood rearing, and roosting. What Do Ducks Eat For the reason that ducks mostly live near coastal waters such as lakes and rivers,… Philopatry is a behavior in which individuals return to the exact site, either on the breeding or wintering ground, from the previous year, enabling pairs to find each other. This means very young ducklings must jump out of the high tree cavities onto the ground to make their way to water. Ducks in a tree – getting to the bottom of it My laptop’s desktop is crowded with folders of bird photos. How Wood Duck Boxes Help Boost Local Wood Duck Populations Reading Time: 6 minutes “Can chickens and ducks live together?” is one of the most common questions I get from readers. Nests are made with a pile of down. Wood Duck populations increased between 1966 and 2015 according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. This lifestyle may seem a bit harsh but the reproductive success of wood ducks has brought them back from near extinction in the early 1900s. Wood Ducks can be found throughout the year in the U.S., with some individuals breeding in Canada, and some wintering in Mexico. Since I’ve been raising my chickens and ducks in the same coop and run for years, my answer is always yes, but I do have a … This duck nests in a tree cavity laying 9–11 cream-white eggs, similar to the Mandarin ducks. They occasionally winter in the Cayman Islands (Scott and Carbonell, 1986). At Mallard Lane Farms we are constantly working to improve the bloodlines of our color mutations, particularly in the white and the silver Wood Duck. These birds are extensively found in swamps, lakes, rivers, ponds, marshes, gulf courses, paddy fields, water reservoirs, wetlands, woodlands, mangrove trees, swamp forests, subtropical and tropical Australian forests, they start constructing their nests before the breeding season arrives. It is commonly found near lakes and wooded potholes, where nuts, berries and other food sources are easily found. Feed live meal worms; Wood ducks are available in several different color mutations which include the apricot Wood Duck, white wood duck, and the very beautiful silver Wood Duck and the rare platinum wood duck, all are currently bred in the US. Ducks are very fond of making their habitats adjacent to water. Where Do Ducks Live? Males do not participate in raising the young, but they do defend females. The female incubates them while the male stands guard. Australian wood duck nests in cavities in trees or in nest-boxes above or near water. Re-pairing is also suspected for buffleheads, long-tailed ducks, harlequin ducks and common eiders.