BROOKHAVEN — Mississippi’s state waterfowl is the Wood Duck and thanks to management and habitat improvement the population of “woodies” has grown to an estimate of 3 million world wide. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service said this estimate comes from breeding surveys. 

Wood Ducks breed in the east and central US and will migrate from the north to southern states such as Mississippi to escape harsh winters Mississippi Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Waterfowl Program Coordinator Houston Havens said one wood duck was banded in Mississippi in 2018 and was harvested by a hunter about four years later in Ottawa, Canada at the October MDWFP commission meeting. 

Wood Ducks can also live year round in the south if they have an ideal wetland area with trees that have cavities for nesting. One way to help wood ducks nest is by placing nesting boxes. Havens said it remains an effective way to help wood ducks and supplement any natural tree cavities. While anytime of the year is appropriate to set them up, wood ducks start to look for potential nesting areas around January to February. 

“Regardless of when they are put up, they will be available for the next time around when ducks start looking for cavities,” Havens said. “We always recommend placing nest boxes in areas that will have appropriate wetland habitat during the spring and early summer so ducklings have the best chance of survival.” 

Boxes should be placed near areas which reliably have water in spring and early summer. Dense vegetation should be nearby as well as the cover will allow ducklings the best chance of survival from air, water and ground predators.

Nest boxes should also have a predator guard to keep nest predators such as rat snakes or small mammals from easily accessing eggs. While managers can’t actively create cavities in trees, they can maintain old growth hardwoods and dead snags to increase the likelihood of having natural cavities on the property. 

Spring brings the growing season and right now is the best time of year for managers to pull water off of actively growing bottomland hardwood timber. Oaks and other non-water tolerant species need a break from inundation. On the other hand, brakes or sloughs with cypress and tupelo gum trees can be left flooded year round. Those areas provide important habitat for wood ducks along with creeks and rivers. 

Havens said there is not much a manager can do to actively manage cover for wood ducks but allowing some “scrub-shrub” areas to be flooded or flood during the growing season can benefit woodies. Often scrub-shrub areas are the lowest elevation of floodplain forests or areas where beavers have built dams to hold water for an extended period. 

“If there are no tree species in those areas to save for timber production interests, leaving beaver dams intact can be very beneficial for wood ducks and other wetland wildlife,” Havens said. “Allowing areas to naturally vegetate and not keeping them manicured is generally a good practice to prevent erosion from happening. Wood ducks are generally not limited by food quantities. Keeping as much water in appropriate areas on the landscape as possible during the spring and summer is one of the best things that can be done for resident wood ducks.”

He said there is not a real timeline managers have to follow in working habitat for wood ducks. Providing quality nesting in late winter and early spring is one key point to focus on and providing shallow water throughout the year is also important. 

Lincoln County has a mixture of mature hardwoods, pine plantations, creek bottoms, ridges and cow pastures. Its land use is 39 percent pastureland out of the 100,793 acres of farmland in the county. Havens said pastures could be transformed into waterfowl habitat. 

“Any kind of dense woody cover, generally called “scrub-shrub habitat” can be attractive to wood ducks when flooded,” Havens said. “Some low-lying areas in old cow pastures can be good candidates for putting in a small levee and water control structure.” 

Summer is quickly approaching and during this time the wood ducks diet will change from acorns and seeds to invertebrates. Hens especially need invertebrates as laying eggs requires a lot of protein. 

Managers can promote invertebrates in areas where Wood Ducks frequent pretty easily. Aquatic invertebrates (water bugs) are an important food source to woodies. The water bugs feed on decaying vegetation and other organic matter in the water. 

Havens recommends mowing around the edges of wetlands to increase the amount of food for invertebrates which would then benefit wood ducks. Managers curious about the activities of wood ducks or interested in getting pictures can set up a trail camera pretty easily. 

“Trail cameras can be used to get a lot of interesting photos on and near wetlands. They can be placed near the water’s edge to potentially catch passing wood ducks,” Havens said. “If you know of an area where ducks like to loaf during the day, like a log floating in the water or extending out from the bank, those can be excellent places to get duck photos. A lot of other wildlife will also use a log in the water. Trigger sensitivity might come into play as far as water motion setting the camera off too often.”