Ecology And Management Of The Wood Duck

Reference on the wood duck includes basic biology, life history, population characteristics, and research and management techniques.

Various ecological and biological aspects of the wood duck (Aix sponsa)were investigated in the elm-ash-maple (Ulmus-Fraxinus- Acer) bottomland timber impoundments at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in central New York. Major areas of research included (a) a description of the forest stand with special reference to the ecological impact of seasonal impoundment, (b) the pattern of occurrence and use of natural nest cavities by wood ducks, (c) the nesting response of wood ducks to nest boxes, (d) an investigation of dump nesting, (e) mark-recapture estimates of annual duckling production, (f) a study of vernal pool invertebrates, and (g) a study of brood usage and survival. Spring flooded green timber was found to produce ideal breeding habitat for wood ducks in providing ample acceptable nest cavities (1.60 per acre)and an abundance of early spring (vernal pool) invertebrate food resources, including fairy shrimp (Chirocephalopsis bundyi), cladocerans (Daphnia pulex), mosquito lar.

A century ago, many people had given up on the wood duck, dooming it to extinction along with the passenger pigeon and Carolina parakeet. Today, it’s one of the most familiar and most harvested ducks in the eastern half of the country, and one of America’s great conservation success stories. In With Wings Extended, Minnesota conservationist Greg Hoch introduces readers to a duck they probably recognize but may not know well. This book shows how almost anyone can get involved in conservation and do something for wildlife beyond writing checks to conservation organizations. Hoch illustrates the complexities of wildlife and habitat management that landowners as well as state and federal wildlife agencies deal with on a daily basis, and takes readers through the life stages of what is largely considered the most beautiful duck in the world. In this fascinating and practical read, Hoch blends the historical literature about the species with modern science, and also shows how our views of conservation have changed over the last century.

Baldaserre & Bolen addresses several aspects of waterfowl ecology and management. This second edition includes 16 'infoboxes, ' which are stand-alone inserts in the various chapters. The infoboxes present information on important waterfowl people, places, and issues

This volume, the fourth in a series of books that collectively update and expand P.A. Johnsgard's 1975 The Waterfowl of North America, summarizes research findings on this economically and ecologically important group of waterfowl. The volume includes the mostly tropical perching duck tribe Cairinini, of which two species, the muscovy duck and the wood duck, are representatives. Both species are adapted for foraging on the water surface, mostly on plant materials, but typically perch in trees and nest in elevated tree cavities or other elevated recesses. This volume also includes the dabbling, or surface-feeding, duck tribe Anatini, a large assemblage of duck species that mainly forage on the water surface but nest on the ground, or only very rarely in elevated locations. Of this tribe, 12 species that regularly breed in North America are included, among them such familiar species as mallards, wigeons, pintails, and teal. Descriptive accounts of the distributions, populations, ecologies, social-sexual behaviors, and breeding biology of all these species are provided, together with distribution maps. Five additional Eurasian and West Indian species have been reported several times in North America; these have been included with more abbreviated accounts, but all 17 species are illustrated by drawings, photographs, or both. The text includes about 84,000 words and contains more than 1,000 references. There are also 12 distribution maps, 21 drawings, 28 photographic plates, and 58 anatomical or behavioral sketches.