Should we help nature? Can we help Nature?
Oregon mallard Nests – a report by Delta member Charles Close – June, 2008
Artificial nests for ducks, not wood ducks, but rather for mallards, teal, gadwall and others. With the land in areas ducks need for nesting being lost, we as hunters and landowners of small ponds need to step up and help preserve what we have.
Ducks nest on land and when they ducklings hatch they have to walk to water where they have food and protection. Sometimes they only have to walk a few feet, while others have to walk a mile to get to water. Some folks believe that ducks nest in the wetlands, and indeed the diving ducks by and large nest in the flooded vegetation, like cattails. However dabblers typically nest in the uplands – dry ground areas with grass or woods. Ducks generally lay an egg per day and sit on the nest for an additional 26 days, so that each clutch has roughly 35 days of exposure. During this long nesting period eggs and the hens themselves are susceptible to a variety of predators. Indeed hen mortality averages 30% in the prairies and nest success in many areas is lower than the 12-15% thought to be necessary to maintain a population of ducks. This is beyond what most of us can believe! By taking advantage of available wetlands, we can use artificial nests to help maximize their nesting success.
We at Mud Duck Slough in Salem, Oregon put out 19 nests over water in the spring of 2004. We were hoping for one or two nests to be used that spring. We were very surprised to find 14 nests used that first spring. We counted 110 egg membranes in the nests, indicating that we had 110 newly hatched ducklings. Now our little ducks did not have to walk to the feeding grounds so they were ahead of their cousins that were still walking. The little guys were feeding on bugs and other aquatic food that gives them a head start on life.
The wheels started turning and that next season we had 73 nests out waiting for the hens the next spring. In 2005 we had 22 nests used, averaging 9 egg membranes (hatched eggs) per nest. That worked out to 198 ducklings that hatched over water instead of having to walk from who knows where.
In 2006 we had 35 nests used, averaging 7 membranes per nest. We had 2 different mallard hens nesting that year by mid March, with one starting on March 7th and one on March 10th. As a result of these findings we tried something in 2006 where we cleaned out and re-stuffed the inside of the nests with grass after the first hens finished hatching and departed the nest. As a result of those efforts 5 birds nested after the early duck was gone. We found a total of 245 membranes in 2006. We did find in 2006 that mink had discovered some of the nests and killed a few hens and ate some eggs. Indeed some had apparently been using our nest structures for sleeping quarters. Seeking a solution I called the ‘experts at Delta Waterfowl’. I got some very good advice from Mr. Jim Fisher. It was really very simple, he suggested that we put a four inch diameter, 30 inch long PVC pipe over our stand pipe.
In the spring of 2007 we raised the number of nests from 73 to an even 80 and added the PVC pipe. We had 29 nests used and averaged 7 egg membranes per nest. That was 203 little ones. We had 100% success with our PVC addition. No mink problems out in our nests. Thank you Delta and Mr. Fisher.
By March 12th 2008, we had already 3 nests used (one with 9 eggs). This spring we added 10 goose platforms for our local Western Canada Geese. That brings us to 90 total nests to service and count. We have all of the nests GPS recorded and numbered so we can find and keep track of their production. We are panning to have 100 total when we are all done putting in more wetlands. Our plan in monitoring the production is that if we find that some of our nests are not used in five years we will relocate them in the hopes they will get used somewhere else.
As of mid June of 2008 we had 34 of the 80 duck nests used, including 31 mallards, two teal and one Canada Goose. Of the goose platforms one of them was used. Of these we had 25 hatches, with 9 abandoned nests suggesting possible predation of hens off the nests. Some of the nests that were not used were in heavily vegetated areas so that there is no longer open water near the nests. We plan on either mowing some vegetation around these nests or moving them to open water areas for next year.
So far 756 baby ducks have hatched in 4 years, we are extremely pleased with that. As a hunter I feel we are putting something back into the system. We as a Duck Club take 1200-1600 ducks out of the system on a given year so it makes sense that we put back when we can.
Year |
# of Nests |
Used |
2004 |
19 |
14 |
2005 |
73 |
22 |
2006 |
73 |
35 |
2007 |
80 |
29 |
2008 |
80 |
34 |
2009 |
80 |
35 |
If you have any questions about this Hen House project email Charles at: close2charles@comcast.net
