Wood ducks nest in cavities in trees. The practice of placing wood duck "boxes" has assisted wood ducks in recovering in numbers in recent years. Wood ducks generally nest in riparian habitats but will occasionally nest as much as a mile away from waterways. However, the hen will lead her brood on that long 1 mile trek back to the waterway which can lead to high chick mortality. High-quality wood duck habitat is old growth timber along waterway corridors with an availability of nesting sites. Habitat areas chosen by wood ducks are often used by other waterfowl species such as black ducks, hooded mergansers and ring-necked ducks. If utilizing wood duck boxes, do not mount them to trees. This practice often leads to the boxes being taken over by squirrels, raccoons and others or can lead to predation by these species, snakes, minks and others on the eggs or even the hen herself. Instead, mount the box to a pole at least 6' from other trees and 8' from the ground. Utilize a predator guard about 2' from the bottom of the box. Hen wood ducks are just as likely to utilize a nesting box placed in this manner but will have a much higher nesting success rate.
Food for chicks and adults differs dramatically. The early diet of ducklings consists largely of insects, aquatic invertebrates, small fish, and other high-protein animal material. After about six weeks of age, the young gradually switch to plant foods until their diet consists of approximately 90 percent vegetative material. Plants commonly consumed include aquatic plants such as algae, watermeal, watershield, sago pondweed, and duckweed. Adult wood ducks feed on a variety of nuts and fruits, aquatic plants and seeds, and aquatic insects and other invertebrates. Insects and aquatic invertebrates are particularly important food items of adult hens during egg laying in spring. Acorns and other forest mast are important fall and winter foods. While acorns are the primary winter foods, the seeds of bald cypress, hickory, sweet gum, buttonbush, arrow-arum, bur-reed, and wild rice are also common winter foods. Wood ducks feed primarily in shallow water areas, but will also forage on the forest floor for seeds, acorns, and nuts.
Keep these plant species in mind when planting around the edge of your pond. When doing forest harvesting, consider allowing mature species that produce wood duck foods to remain. The highly manicured back yard pond many want are not the best wood duck ponds.
