9/1/2023 0 Comments Drake wood duck soundsThe male will have a more drab appearance and look similar to the female.Īt the base of their tails, Wood Ducks have a gland that secrets a wax substance that they rub on their feathers to provide water protection.īy early autumn, the young ducklings will begin to put on their adult plumages. This molting process takes up to four weeks. This means they cannot fly and are at a high risk of predation.ĭuring this time, they move into remote places that are full of tall reeds where they can hide. The male loses his flight feathers all at the same time. By mid-summer, the molting process begins for the male. When females begin incubation, the male Wood Duck abandons the female and the egg clutch while forming flocks with other males. Some of the plants they eat are duckweed and wild rice. In the first weeks, the young need protein and feed on crustaceans, small fish, insects, and their larvae.Īs they grow, they'll eat aquatic plants, nuts, and fruit. During this time, they follow and obey their mother for safety and to find food.Ī second nesting or clutch of eggs may be laid before the end of the nesting season. The young birds will need about 7 more weeks before learning to fly. In the early evening, the female will find shelter for herself and the young for the night. The female Wood Duck will take the young to the water, where they instinctively know what to eat. One by one, they will climb to the opening and drop to the ground or water, and head toward their mother. The day after hatching, (within 24 hours) the female will leave the nest and begin calling the young. Upon hatching and seeing their mother, the young are immediately imprinted. Incubation is done by the female and last 27 to 30 days. Once incubation begins, the male's involvement diminishes to being absent by hatching time. During egg laying, the male will accompany the female to the nest site each day. The female bird lays 10 - 15 dull white eggs. If the Wood Duck is successful in raising young, it will often return to the same nest year after year to raise more broods. The nest is generally 5 to 50 feet above the ground or water. Located in a natural tree cavity or man-made birdhouse. The female's nest is made of wood chips and down. If the cavity is being used, she will find another cavity close by. In the South, the season could begin in January, whereas in more Northern areas, the time of breeding could begin from March through April.įemales' will remember where they hatched and will bring the male to that same cavity. When nesting season begins is dependent on where in the country they breed. Wood Duck Nesting Habits When Do They Begin The choice of mate is completely the females. If she is impressed, she will begin to follow him. The male responds by raising his wings and tail, turning the back of his head to her so that she can see the bright white feathers as he swims away. The courtship of the female is a repeated flick of her bill back over her shoulder. The pair are early migrants to their breeding territories, often returning right after the spring thaw. Throughout the winter the male will spend his time trying to protect the female. The pairing up begins well before the actual breeding season. The mating/courtship habits of these birds take place through fall and winter on their wintering grounds. One also hears rapid chattering at times I’m not sure which sex is producing that, but it seems to occur during excited interactions.Listen to the different calls of the Wood Duck Mating Breeding Habits The males make soft wheezing whistles that rise in pitch: jeeeb or ji-ihb. The females make loud squealing calls sounding like oo-week, oo-week. The sounds of the male and female Wood Ducks are easy to tell apart. You may be surprised to learn that Wood Ducks court in October, but the fact is that nearly all our native ducks begin the process in the autumn and continue courting and forming pair-bonds through the winter months. What fun it was to do the mix in Final Cut Pro, where I made good use of the “Ken Burns Effect” to zoom in-and-out on the still images, helping to bring the slide-show alive with movement. Marie’s beautiful photos are wonderful to behold, and her enthusiasm about Wood Ducks is apparent in her voice. Gratefully, she accepted, and excitedly set up a blind on the pond in order to get additional photos for her collection. I was very pleased, so I contacted bird photographer Marie Read and asked if she’d be interested in providing images for an audiovisual creation … mixing her photographs and voice with my sounds. The resulting soundscape included lots of calling from both sexes. So I spent the night at his place and then recorded for about an hour at dawn. A friend recently informed me that Wood Ducks were gathering and courting in his woodland pond.
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