8/3/2023 0 Comments Wood duck hatching eggsThey'll swim with mom and learn the basics of wood duck life. The eggs take about a month to hatch, then each youngin' must make that harrowing leap to the ground (or water surface). Dad isn't in the picture at all, usually taking off as soon as incubation begins. Mom doesn't start incubating her eggs until after the last one is laid. She'll cover them in debris to protect them as she goes out to feed herself. The female will find her hole, then lay an egg a day in it until the entire clutch is done, typically as many as 12 eggs. In Florida, nesting is between January and August, but mostly between February and June. Which you would think would be a problem since wood duck hatchlings must make a leap to the ground within 24 hours of hatching, then trek off to the nearest pond or lake with mom. They nest in tree cavities often as high as 60 feet in the air or more. Nest sites can be over water or within a short walking distance of water, but according to Cornell, they also can be more than a mile away. They are unusual in that they come equipped with claws on their webbed feet that allow them to perch in trees. Wood ducks like heavily wooded or vegetated ponds and lakes. They are fairly large as ducks go, with a body length between a foot-and-a-half and two feet and a wingspan that can approach 30 inches. The female's, however, is on the plain side. Females, called hens, are duller, with a large white eye patch.īoth males and females have crests atop their heads, the male's ornate as clearly shown in the photo below. Males have green heads with white stripes and a red eye the chest is cinnamon, the sides buff with white striping and a patch of blue. The guys, drakes in duck terminology, are mere followers. It's actually female woodies who drive the migration first-year females will return to the area where they were born, and in subsequent years to the same nest site where they raised their first brood. Florida's wood duck population also expands come winter. Wood ducks are found in the extreme northern reaches of the United States and parts of Canada, but these birds are migratory, flying as far south as Mexico to escape winter's ravages. There's also a year-round population along the Pacific Coast. Wood ducks are year-round residents of Florida, as they are most of eastern North America as far north as parts of New England and Manitoba. They also have a rather odd strategy for dealing with a shortage of suitable nesting sites: dump nesting. It's among the most sought after of water fowl by those who hunt with binoculars and cameras and those who use more lethal tools. Wood ducks, AKA woodies, AKA Aixa sponsa, arguably rank among the most beautiful and elaborately plumed of all ducks, perhaps of all birds, that make their way to the Sunshine State.
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