Wood Duck Project
In the spring of 1988, with a great deal of help from the Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage folks in Easton, Maryland, we began our Wood Duck Nesting Box Project on our Betts/Armstrong property along Augustine Creek near Bayview in southeastern New Castle County. Initially some 30 boxes were placed there and the woodies took to them immediately resulting in a 95% usage rate the first year. The following year 30 more boxes were placed on our Dickinson Farm near Taylor's Bridge, also with good success. In April of 1990 and again in 1991 more boxes were added to the Betts/Armstrong area and there are now some 300 boxes there. Later on, 100 more boxes were placed on private lands at two other locations bringing to 500 the number of boxes in New Castle County alone.
Wood ducks seem to respond to this management practice much better than other species respond to any other practice and it provides an added benefit from a non-game perspective. The boxes are only used by woodies for 2-3 months per year. After that, they are utilized by screech and saw-whet owls, hooded mergansers and a number of songbirds.
The boxes are checked every year in late winter and early spring when they are cleaned and repaired as necessary. Fresh wood chip bedding is added.
We plan to continue this project on additional properties as well.