2021 Gamekeepers / Winter - Regional Wood Duck Effort

Focus on Wood Duck Recruitment

What began as a 2019 pilot study in South Carolina to size up wood duck recruitment, quickly turned into a landmark regional effort in 2020 and 2021. Eight states within the Atltantic and Mississippi Flyways are now recording the wood duck harvest data that will help fine tune nest box placement. The new technique of web banding the feet of wood duck ducklings is the tool that will help yield these insights. The study calls on waterfowl enthusiasts to check their wood ducks for web-tags on their feet and to report that data, the same as reporting a leg band.

            

Beau Bauer is a wildlife and fisheries biologist at Nemours Wildlife Foundation, located in the ACE Basin of South Carolina. The Nemours Wildlife Foundation was established in 1995 by the late Eugene duPont III and is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. “This is a highly collaborative effort involving multiple states, and we at Nemours are tasked with coordinating the data as a non-profit organization,” said Bauer. “The eight-state partnership approach is breaking new ground when it comes to studying wood ducks across a broad landscape including two flyways.”

Sidebar on my wood duck encounter at Snipe Hill

For more Info click on Mossy Oak Gamekeepers Magazine. 

Mallards grace the Winter '21 edition

To view past blog entries from Mossy Oak Gamekeepers Magazine click Fall 2021 - Summer 2021 - Winter 2020- Spring 2020 - Fall 2017- Spring 2016 - Winter 2016 - Fall 2015 - Summer 2015 - Spring 2015 - Winter 2015 - Fall 2014 - Summer 2014 - Spring 2014 - Winter 2013