Page 45 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2021

COLORFUL SPEEDSTERS
a tree. They come with a roof to keep out predators and a big hole in the middle for the ducks to get in these boxes and rear their young.
“Nesting boxes can be very effective for helping wood ducks if they are properly maintained,” Havens advised. “If someone wants to use them, they need to place them in an appropriate location and add predator exclusion devices to give the nest protection. Wood ducks do not bring materials into the nest. The boxes need to be cleaned out at least every other year to give the birds the best possible assistance to successfully raise a clutch.”
While non-migratory woodies remain abundant in Mississippi throughout the year, others migrate down from nearby states in the winter. Some come from as far away as the Great Lakes states and even Canada.
“Wood ducks breed in Mississippi and stay here all year long, but during the winter, the population more than doubles
because of migratory birds,” Havens confirmed. “We get a lot of band returns from wood ducks harvested in Mississippi, but banded in other states like Wisconsin. We probably band around 400 birds a year that hatched in Mississippi. It’s always fascinating to get band returns and see how far these birds go. We’ve had some band returns from Canada.”
Hunting wood ducks frequently involves intense, although brief, action. Wood ducks generally follow the same flight patterns each morning and evening between roosting and feeding areas. At first light, they typically fly from their roosts to feeding areas and reverse course at sunset. In the right place, sportsmen can enjoy incredibly fast action, but it might only last less than 15 minutes.
With good wetlands conservation and wildlife management, these birds will color Mississippi swamps for eons to come, perhaps in larger numbers.
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living | www.smliving.net December 2021 | 45