Cavity-nesting Ducks

Two common ducks that nest along the Tittabawassee River are the wood duck and hooded merganser. These birds nest early in the season and either use natural cavities in trees or, we hope, the larger duck nest boxes we place on the river.

The wood duck is associated with floodplain forests and forages primarily on insects, nuts, and other vegetation, while the hooded merganser primarily consumes forage fish and is more likely to be found on larger bodies of open water.

The nest boxes were placed on many properties from Sanford to the Center Road Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge property in 2004 and monitored for a few productivity measures but mostly for contaminant concentrations in collected egg samples.

Sample analyses for contaminants will identify exposure levels and possible routes of exposure based on species-specific foraging behaviors in order to assess the risk to these species from current exposure to site-specific contaminants.