Use of Tree Cavities and Nest Boxes by Wood Ducks at Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge

J. Boomer Malanchuk^1,2,3,* and Jacob N. Straub^1,2,4

¹Lake Champlain Research Institute, State University of New York Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY 12901. ²College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI 54481. ³Current address - Kansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 66506. ⁴Current address - The College at Brockport, State University of New York, Brockport, NY 14420. *Corresponding author.

Northeastern Naturalist, Volume 27, Issue 1 (2020): 115–124

Abstract
We measured use rates, nest success, and inter- and intra- specific nest parasitism by ducks using tree cavities and nest boxes in an old-growth forested floodplain at Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Swanton, VT. Our study represents a previously under-explored opportunity to evaluate various breeding-season characteristics for ducks using both natural and artificial nest cavities in the same forested stand in the northeastern US. Overall use (72.5% vs. 14.5%) and nest-success rates (48.3% vs. 0.0%) were greater in artificial nest boxes but so was nest parasitism (62.1% vs. 0.0%). In addition, Aix sponsa (Wood Duck) were the only species using artificial nest boxes consistently even though this region represents a rare location in North America where they coexist with Lophodytes cucullatus (Hooded Merganser) and Bucephala clangula (Common Goldeneye), which are also cavity-nesting obligates. We found many (n = 35) unused available tree cavities over 2 years, and thus it is unlikely nest site availability is a limiting factor for population growth of cavity nesting ducks at Missisquoi NWR. Future research efforts should try to determine the factors affecting nest-cavity selection.

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