the chorister's c

historical data

 

Wood Duck and Hooded Merganser trend chart

The following tables summarize the available data on activity in the Wood Duck nest boxes at Huntley Meadows Park, Fairfax County, Virginia, for the indicated years.

Explanatory notes and additional comments follow the tables.

 

Counts of boxes:

Counts of:

Dates on which:

Year

Deployed and Monitored

Only visited

With clutches

Eggs laid

Ducklings fledged (%)

Eggs were laid

Eggs hatched

Volunteer
staff

1982

18

13 (72%)

1983

33

21 (64%)

4/20-

-6/1

1984

78

59 (76%)

3/15-

-6/15

1985

145

76 (52%)

4/3-

-7/8

1986

18

5

7

1987

20

6

1988

17

6

32

25 (78%)

1989

3

3

1990

13

5

-6/7

1991

14

6

6

98

76 (78%)

3/18-5/27

5/3-7/4

5

1992

19

2

11

145

111 (77%)

3/8-5/13

4/19-6/21

7

1993

18

3

12

193

108 (56%)

3/28-5/22

5/9-6/6

14

1994

17

5

8

114

97 (85%)

3/20-5/8

5/1-5/29

1995

21

2

7

82

70 (85%)

-4/23

5/7-6/4

8

1996

19

7

4

46

41 (89%)

3/18-4/9

5/5-5/19

7

1997

20

1

4

54

28 (52%)

3/9-4/13

5/4-5/18

8

1998

19

4

5

60

53 (88%)

3/8-5/17

4/19-5/31

5

1999

19

2

4

40

33 (83%)

3/18-4/13

5/9-5/16

8

The column headed "Only visited" counts those boxes where there was evidence that a duck had visited the box (a depression in the wood chips, a feather, etc.) but where no eggs were laid.

Beginning in about 1988, new boxes were mounted (and some old boxes remounted) on poles rather than trees. Pole mounting makes the boxes easier to service and more resistant to predators.

In 1991, the first plastic boxes constructed from 5-gallon buckets were installed. These boxes were gradually replaced by wooden boxes, of various designs; by the end of 2001, all boxes again were made of wood.

In 1991, one box had two clutches laid in it, for a total of 7 clutches of eggs on the year; in 1992, two boxes had double clutches, for a total of 13 clutches on the year. In 1998, one box had a second small clutch (which failed), for a total of 6 clutches on the year.

The 1993 nesting season was delayed somewhat by a massive mid-March snowstorm.

All laying dates and hatch dates are estimated. In 1991, the monitoring program was expanded, and regular weekly monitoring and maintenance became the norm; prior to that year, the boxes were checked only once or twice per season.

Counts of boxes:

Counts of:

Dates on which:

 

Clutches

Eggs laid

Ducklings fledged (%)

Eggs were laid

Eggs hatched

 

Year

Deployed and Monitored

Only visited

HOME

WODU

Mixed

HOME

WODU

HOME

WODU

HOME

WODU

HOME

WODU

Volunteer staff

2000

19

2

0

5

0

0

62

0

47 (76%)

n/a

3/18- 5/4

n/a

4/23- 6/5

10

2001

19

2

1

3

1

18

36

15 (83%)

29 (81%)

 

3/4- 5/13

 

4/29- 6/17

8

2002

16

1

3

6

0

39

63

22 (56%)

55 (87%)

 

3/14- 4/21

 

5/5- 6/9

8

2003

17

1

3

8

2

44

116

33 (75%)

93 (80%)

3/1- 3/31

3/13- 6/14

4/19- 5/4

4/26- 7/14

8

2004

19

0

6

6

2

94

82

79 (84%)

40 (49%)

2/25- 5/8

2/28- 5/27

4/3- 6/5

4/26- 6/25

8

2005

18

3

5

5

1

44

60

35 (80%)

42 (70%)

2/17- 4/9

3/15- 5/14

4/9- 5/29

5/7- 6/18

10

2006

18

1

5

4

1

83

35

75 (90%)

9 (26%)

2/18- 4/13

3/21- 5/17

4/3- 5/20

5/7- 5/20

8

2007

19

0

7

6

0

76

77

65 (86%)

39 (51%)

3/3- 4/2

3/25- 4/25

4/22- 5/6

-6/11

12

2008

19

2

4

9

0

42

115

37 (88%)

97 (84%)

2/26- 4/14

3/5- 5/26

4/14- 5/12

4/27- 6/26

5

2009

19

2

4

5

0

39

63

29 (74%)

59 (94%)

2/24- 4/30

3/25- 5/5

4/14- 5/30

5/8- 6/7

10

2010

19

2

4

10

1

69

113

61 (88%)

53 (47%)

3/2- 4/8

3/14- 6/6

4/19- 5/10

4/28- 6/2

9

2011

14

0

3

5

5

76

82

51 (67%)

37 (45%)

2/24- 4/15

3/11- 6/5

4/11- 5/13

4/17- 6/3

14

2012

16

2

5

5

2

70

57

63 (90%)

46 (81%)

2/24- 4/9

3/9- 5/3

4/6- 5/8

4/10- 6/2

7

2013

16

2

6

3

4

103

72

92 (89%)

48 (67%)

2/17- 5/5

3/9- 4/1

4/23- 6/4

4/23- 5/1

5

2014

16

2

3

10

1

41

127

37 (90%)

84 (66%)

2/28- 3/31

3/17- 5/1

4/14- 4/30

4/30- 5/31

6

2015

16

2

4

6

3

64

67

13 (20%)

13 (19%)

3/12- 4/11

3/22- 5/3

6/3

5/3

5

2016

16

1

3

11

0

34

163

31 (91%)

114 (70%)

2/27- 4/18

3/1- 6/6

4/11- 5/18

4/12- 6/17

5

2017

16

2

4

9

1

46

158

37 (80%)

82 (52%)

3/12- 4/1

2/28- 5/5

4/30- 5/1

4/28- 6/3

6

2018

16

1

10

5

0

139

34

52 (37%)

7 (21%)

2/23- 4/15

3/28- 5/14

4/16- 5/14

6/14

6

2019

16

2

4

10

0

51

86

40 (78%)

32 (37%)

2/17- 3/24

2/26- 5/29

4/6- 4/29

4/15- 6/29

5

2020

5

2021

16

3

5

4

1

72

63

63 (88%)

47 (75%)

2/25- 4/11

3/14- 4/23

4/7- 5/11

4/28- 5/24

4

2022

16

0

5

12

0

72

110

64 (89%)

28 (25%)

2/14- 3/25

3/11- 5/21

4/3- 5/2

4/20- 6/19

6

2023

16

3

4

7

0

47

76

45 (96%)

53 (70%)

2/21- 4/13

3/3- 5/22

4/3- 5/13

4/21- 5/4

7

2024

16

2

2

10

0

22

146

19 (86%)

117 (80%)

3/7- 4/15

3/5- 6/2

4/20- 5/14

4/18- 7/2

6

The column headed "Only visited" counts those boxes where there was evidence that a duck had visited the box (a depression in the wood chips, a feather, etc.) but where no eggs were laid.

In 1991, the first plastic boxes constructed from 5-gallon buckets were installed. These boxes were gradually replaced by wooden boxes, of various designs; by the end of 2001, all boxes again were made of wood.

Beginning in 2001, boxes were used by Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) (columns headed "HOME" in the table above) as well as Wood Duck (columns headed "WODU"). In a few cases, clutches contained eggs of both species, and these are recorded as Mixed above.

All laying dates and hatch dates are estimated. Generally, boxes were visited weekly or biweekly.

Wood Duck home ||| species account
nest boxes at Huntley Meadows Park ||| team photos
historical data ||| references and links

the chorister's c ||| A Honey of an Anklet

Last update: 8 August 2024.
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