Cavity Nesting Ducks - Another Update - See # 19

[Zip-in-Z]

This past spring, I believe we had a female Wood Duck land on one of my bird houses in the crevasse of a Poplar tree next to the Sylvan Lake G&CC. Mama duck spent a considerable amount of time looking over this spot. I mentioned it to the golf course super who said there has been a few cavity nesting ducks on the golf course property over the past few years, after our chat he asked me to construct a few nesting box's that we could put up in around some of the ponds in Oct/Nov.

Ducks Unlimited, among other websites had a few good examples, I had some left over plywood and picked up some scraps from the local housing development and decided to build a couple and customized one using old tree bark for roof shingles …. looks cool.

Have enough material to construct 3-4 nest box’s, plan to install them approx 5 feet above ground or water, either on a tree or an old chain link fence pole.

Any one have any success attracting Wood Ducks or other cavity nesting ducks, such as Goldeyes, Buffleheads or Merganser's ?

A few pic’s of my latest saw dust project.

Z-z









Authentic Tree Bark Roof to keep the rain out.




Z-z Custom Art Work.






Side hinged door for easy clean out.





Exit Ladder used kerf cuts to help them get out.





Tks for lookin .....



.

[score]

Nice work. I hope the ducks like them.

[bwackwabbit]

Awesome!

[Zip-in-Z]

Installed 4 duck nest box's on the Sylvan Lake Golf Course last week, hoping to get some interest in the spring.

A few pics now that my Photobucket is working again.

Z-z

[woods_walker]

Nice work. I am sure the ducks will appreciate them.

[Zip-in-Z]

Me toooo, however, since they’re on the golf course, I imagine some nincompoop will try to stuff a beer can or some golf balls down in the hole. Will keep a look out in the spring.

[MK2750]

Nice work on the boxes. I believe they will need to be much higher and away from the water's edge to attract ducks. There were Woodies where I grew up and they liked to get up there.

There was a documentary on PBS called Meet the Ducks or something similar. They follow a family of Woodies and the nest is like 50 feet up. Here is a clip, or you can watch the whole duckumentary http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/an-or...duckling/8000/

I don't think you need them that high but they won't feel comfortable low and near the water.

[Kim473]

http://www.bbne.org/articles/view/22

[Mr Conservation]

Nice work

Always great to help out by putting back some nesting habitat.

Mr Conservation

[Zip-in-Z]

Went out the other day to check if any of the four nest box's had any occupants. This was the first year these boxes were up, seen a few Tree Sparrows hanging around one box while I was golfing over the spring/summer but didn't have any expectations. One box was opened by someone and they didn’t fasten the latch, that may have kept the ducks away. Fortunately, no one stuffed any golf balls or beer cans in any of them. Three of the four had some kind of occupants, I was happily surprised with what I found in the last one I checked out, from my research I believe it was a Goldeneye as I seen a few broods of ducklings in the pond across from our condo.

Took a few pic’s …. can anyone here confirm if it may have been a Goldeneye from the dud egg ?

Z-z




















Regular chicken egg for comparison.





File pic of female goldeneye.

[woodsman205]

Beautiful American Goldeneye Hen! and Beautiful job on the nesting boxes and locations!

Love the way they Whistle when they come in especially when there are a lot of them

You're AWESOME Z-z

[fish_e_o]

Originally Posted by Zip-in-Z

Regular chicken egg for comparison.

how do they taste compared to normal eggs?

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by woods_walker

Nice work. I am sure the ducks will appreciate them.

Ditto! Great job.

[mudbug]

Right on! Very nice

[antlercarver]

I live on a lake shore and have 5 houses suitable for goldeyes or buffelheads. My houses are in trees, need to put them on pipe.
The entrance is big enough for squirrels to get into and they are filling the houses with dried mushrooms, will have to do house cleaning in spring.

[Zip-in-Z]

Had a Goldeneye nest in this box in late April and she vamoosed in 1-2 days with 10 ducklings (no pics), checked my nest box a couple of weeks ago, this one had an "Occupied & No Vacancy" sign, today (June 19th) ... Mama Bufflehead popped out with 12 little guys.

Two different cavity nesting ducks in the same box this year .... nice.

D.



Lots of Cottonwood fluff on water hard to see Mama & her brood.



Home sweet home, comfy!



Smallest one is hitching a ride ....



Hope they all survive!

[Deer Hunter]

Great pics. Thanks for posting!

[RandyBoBandy]

Originally Posted by Zip-in-Z

Had a Goldeneye nest in this box in late April and she vamoosed in 1-2 days with 10 ducklings (no pics), checked my nest box a couple of weeks ago, this one had an "Occupied & No Vacancy" sign, today (June 19th) ... Mama Bufflehead popped out with 12 little guys.

Two different cavity nesting ducks in the same box this year .... nice.

D.



Lots of Cottonwood fluff on water hard to see Mama & her brood.



Home sweet home, comfy!



Smallest one is hitching a ride ....



Hope they all survive!

SWEET !!

[Zip-in-Z]

Nov. 14, 2018 - Post # 19

Went out on the Sylvan G&CC to check my nest box's, they have been out now for three nesting seasons, this year all 4 of them produced a brood of "Goldeneye"ducklings. Two of the boxes each had 1 egg that didn't hatch, wondering why. Did a Google search the results suggested "in order to hatch an egg that has been fertilized and never chilled, the egg needs very specific temperature and humidity to develop properly". I imagine the hen had 8 -10 - 12 eggs and the one's either below or on the outside must of been cold and didn't develop. I gave the eggs to the neighbor to give to the G-kid to take to school for show & tell.

Pleased to see all my old Photobucket pics are back, here's a pic of the 2 eggs with a chicken egg for comparison, the Goldeneye's are a bit larger.

D.

[Zip-in-Z]

One more pic from earlier this year of Mama G-Eye.

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by Zip-in-Z

One more pic from earlier this year of Mama G-Eye.

So, are these boxes species specific ? They seem to have weathered well.

Grizz

[Smoky buck]

Very cool I did not realize the number of duck species that use these boxes. I always thought it was a wood duck thing

[MooseRiverTrapper]

Wow cool thanks for building and sharing.

[happy honker]

Amazing pics and a great thread.
I once spent two days working under a tree that Wood Ducks had nested in and it was unforgettable. They would fly for the tree at Mach 7, hit the breaks and disappear into that hole like magic.

[expedition]

Awesome awesome .

[Mr Conservation]

Great work Zip !!

Mr Conservation

[Zip-in-Z]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

So, are these boxes species specific ? They seem to have weathered well.

Grizz

Grizz .... the entrance hole is a bit larger than the recommended dimensions of 4 1/2" x 3 1/2" oval for Wood Ducks, both Mama Goldeneye & Bufflehead have no trouble getting in and out, guess they're considered "Universal".

I didn't mention I found one that was vandalized, over the last 2 weeks some kids decided to see if they could pull it out of the ground with no luck they pushed on it and bent the medal post, the box was at a 45* angle over the ice covered pond, was able to straighten it and added more hamster shavings, it's ready for next season.

Pleased to read others here like the nest box's, tks for the complements.

David

[nimrod]

If your building a few extra boxes, Ill buy them off you around March, just let me know the cost and how many if like, Nimrod

Ill plant them around my place to see if there is any takers in Spring

[Zip-in-Z]

Originally Posted by nimrod

If your building a few extra boxes, Ill buy them off you around March, just let me know the cost and how many if like, Nimrod

Ill plant them around my place to see if there is any takers in Spring

Sorry, no more saw dust projects, departing to So-Cal in a few weeks.

Plans are available on internet, not that difficult to assemble, I used medal posts for chain link fences available at Home Depot, you will need a post pounder to drive them into the ground or just hang them on a large tree about 8-10 feet up.

Cheers

D.