Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center
Breeding Range. (Fig. 18). Fairly common along the lower Sheyenne River (extending upstream to Bald Hill Dam in Barnes County), along the upper Red River, Bois de Sioux River, and Wild Rice River (within Cass, Richland, and Sargent Counties), and along a portion of the James River (between Jamestown and Grand Rapids); uncommon and local elsewhere within the Agassiz Lake Plain Region, on the Northeastern Drift Plain and Southern Drift Plain, in the Turtle Mountains, along the Mouse River (within McHenry County), and along the Missouri River below Garrison Dam (extending downstream to a point about 10 miles below Bismarck); rare and local in other portions of the Northwestern Drift Plain and on the Missouri Slope--recorded in Ward, Pierce, and Renville Counties, in northwestern Benson County, and in Stark County.
Past records concerning the distribution and numerical status of Wood Ducks in North Dakota are described in detail by Hibbard (1958, 1971).
Breeding Habitat. Rivers, creeks, and oxbows in wooded floodplain forest; also wood-bordered ponds and lakes.
Nesting. Breeding season: Mid-April to early September; peak, early May to mid-July. At Jamestown, breeding pairs were observed investigating nesting cavities on April 12, 1973, April 15, 1972, April 16, 1971, April 24, 1966, April 24, 1967 and April 28, 1963 (RES). Extreme egg dates (4 nests): May 7 [1967] in Stutsman County (C. B. Stewart) to June 14 [1970] in Stutsman County (L. C. Haynes). Extreme dates of dependent young (36 broods): June 3 [1959] in Cass County (Schroeder 1960) to September 8 [1971] in Stutsman County (P. F. Springer).
Along the James River near Jamestown during the period 1963-1972, many nest boxes were occupied as a result of initial releases of propagated Wood Ducks by Carl E. Strutz and of later releases by Harold A. Doty and Forrest B. Lee. Along the Turtle River near Manvel in 1968, 5 out of 11 Wood Duck boxes were occupied (R. W. Stuart). In 1970, 1 out of 40 nest boxes, situated along the Mouse River in McHenry County, contained a Wood Duck nest with eggs (R. J. King).
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| Figure 18. Breeding Range of Wood Duck. |
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U.S. Department of the Interior |
U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/bbofnd/species/1440.htm
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