wood ducks

[Dustin07]

is it just me, or does it seem like wood duck populations in washington (especially western washington) have picked up in the last couple years? I went from not being able to find them a decade + ago in western wa, to seeing them everywhere now.

[h2ofowlr]

The wet springs have helped.  I have placed about 35 wood duck boxes around the areas I hunt.  I know I am seeing quite a few.  We have probably placed over 100 wood duck boxes in the past several years.  Hopefully it is helping.

[carpsniperg2]

i agree. more and more wood ducks showing up. way to put out the extra effort h2ofowlr, thats great of you guys to do

[rasbo]

I start seeing them while trapping,quite a ways in the woods,,what beautiful ducks they are..The settings I see them in are around beaver ponds..

[Crispy]

The wet springs have helped.  I have placed about 35 wood duck boxes around the areas I hunt.  I know I am seeing quite a few.  We have probably placed over 100 wood duck boxes in the past several years.  Hopefully it is helping.

Do you know about any restrictions on where you can place the boxes? I was thinking about building a few but I don't know where to put them. Ideas?

[jordano]

that is awesome work guys! I am surprised there are not limits on the number of wood ducks you can shoot in one day.... like 4 in the total bag?? I thought it was interesting how Bluebills, Pintail, and Redheads have limits but Woodies don't.....

[DOUBLELUNG]

Woodies doing wonderfully is ENTIRELY due to the folks who hang and maintain boxes.

[Dustin07]

The wet springs have helped.  I have placed about 35 wood duck boxes around the areas I hunt.  I know I am seeing quite a few.  We have probably placed over 100 wood duck boxes in the past several years.  Hopefully it is helping.

I think it is. Your area is one of the areas I am hearing more and more wood duck reports from. We're going to put some out on our land and I'm going to talk to some of the local farmers about letting me put some out on theirs. The coyotes are getting worse out here, and braver around people.

[h2ofowlr]

There is no restrictions that I know of in regards to placing boxes.  I would look for swampy areas that hold water all year.  Also small ponds, etc.  One of the boxes I checked had 11 chicks in it this spring.  Most have flown off to other areas.  I have been seeing a fair amount of woodies around.

[Stilly bay]

not to derail the thread but... is common to get wood ducks out in skagit bay or nearby areas? when I was a kid I would see tons of them out on camano and whidby islands but never heard of anyone getting one in nearby public hunting areas.

[boneaddict]

Woodies doing wonderfully is ENTIRELY due to the folks who hang and maintain boxes.

A-men!

[jordano]

Woodies doing wonderfully is ENTIRELY due to the folks who hang and maintain boxes.

A-men!

   

to those who put in all the awesome time! thank you!

[Whitenuckles]

 Its nice to see them around!!! It gets my blood pumping. We hung 22 boxes on the Snoqualmie  River early this spring. But only 9 of them got woodies. hopefully next year they'll all be full!

[Dustin07]

Its nice to see them around!!! It gets my blood pumping. We hung 22 boxes on the Snoqualmie  River early this spring. But only 9 of them got woodies. hopefully next year they'll all be full!

I wouldn't say "only" 9. That's 9 nests that got used that otherwise didn't exist, nice contribution 

[Crispy]

I'm definitely going to be building and placing some. What kind of maintenance is needed? Do you need to go in and clean them out after the birds have left? Might be a dumb question.

I'm sure I could google it, but this way anyone else that's interested might get some information they can use and get some boxes up as well. 

[uplandhunter870]

i worked with a prof last spring on a continuing wood duck nest box project the maintaince that we did was check to make sure that the lids were still there and the wires that held the lids down (predator proofing if you will) were not rusted and brittle, we also changed out some of the nastier rotten sawdust that is in the bottom of the boxes and remove a beehive and wasp nest, getting at those two boxes sucked and were ultimately replaced after a healthy dose of beebop. out of a total 18 boxes that the JC here has i had to replace 6 complete boxes, counting the bee and wasp boxes, due to weathering and predation from 2 legged pests.

last spring we had a total of 4 active nests with hens sitting on eggs and one egg dump box, was not an overly great box use percentage but its 4 more nests than there would have been without the nest boxes.

[Viszla]

We got some around the pond at the folks house but the starlings keep nesting in them

[jordano]

We got some around the pond at the folks house but the starlings keep nesting in them

sounds like time for a little pest control.......

[D-Rock425]

I would start blasting those little pest

[woodywsu]

We got some around the pond at the folks house but the starlings keep nesting in them

Try covering the opening August - January. Starlings looks for nesting places that time of the year. When you remove the cover, clean out the old saw dust and wood chips and add new materials. Maintainence to these boxes are a key for success. If predation occurs, there are various predator guards you can add. If you have prior success in previous years, make sure you keep the box in great shape. Wood ducks will continue using that same structure if they were successful in the past.

I get a lot of starling use in the 50 boxes I maintain and check. I had 5 boxes last year with American Kestrels in them also.

[scottcrb]

this sounds like a great idea to me to make more useful safe habitat for any waterfowl.   i am a carpenter and would love to build some extra houses. does anyone have a good plan or what size box/ hole works best for woodies? does a specific wood work better? 

[Professor Chaos]

http://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowlbiology/2716/woodduckboxes.html

[Skyhigh]

http://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowlbiology/2716/woodduckboxes.html

use the plans in the PDF file not the ones shown in the link..They are different and the PDF file ones are far better..