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Building a wood duck box project is simple yet effective |
 LITTLE
ROCK —The wood duck has made a remarkable comeback in Arkansas over the
past several decades, and humans have had a lot to do with it.The colorful waterfowl are found in all 75 Arkansas counties, and man-made nesting boxes have been instrumental in the recovery from extremely low numbers 40 or 50 years ago. Most anyone can build a wood duck nesting box, and it can be a rewarding parent-child venture. Plans are available from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Communications office. Here are the basics: To start, you need a 1 by 12 board 10 feet long. Cypress or cedar are the preferred materials; they are naturally weather resistant. More easily obtained pine or fir can be used, but the box will have a much shorter life span after it is put into use. Rough sawn or unplanned lumber works best, gives a more natural appearance to the ducks and is a full one inch in thickness’ finished lumber is 3/4-inch thick. Cut four pieces 24 inches long. For a sloping instead of flat roof, you may choose to angle the tops of the two sides a little, making one edge 23 inches instead of 24. Cut a roof 14 inches long. Cut a floor 10 inches long and either cut off the floor’s corners or drill a few drain holes so moisture can escape the box. The entrance hole in the front should be an oblong 3 inches by 4 inches and the hole’s top edge should be about 3 inches below the roof. Inside the front piece and below the entrance hole, tack a strip of hardware cloth or window screen about three inches wide. This will serve as a ladder for the baby ducks to climb up to the hole.  Assemble
the pieces with galvanized nails or wood screws. For ease in cleaning
out the box, you can pivot one side with nails near the top and rig a
fastener near the bottom. Don’t paint or stain the box; leave it
natural. If you use pine, fir or spruce, an outside coat of deck-type
water seal will make it last longer, but don’t use this material inside
the box.There are options, of course, and wood ducks aren’t all that finicky about a place to use. The back of the box can be made longer, so there is room above and below for bolting, screwing or wiring the box to the pole or tree. Put several handfuls of wood chips or sawdust in the bottom of the post, then erect it on a pole or a tree. Locating the box is a critical factor. First, it must be on or very close to water. Second, it must be fairly high off the ground, enough so a ladder is needed. Third, there must be a guard of some kind to prevent marauding snakes, raccoons and other predators from getting tot he eggs, babies or mother duck. A cone made of sheet metal and fastened on the pole or tree just below the box works well. A used aluminum printing plate wrapped around the pole also works, and so does a coating of grease on several feet of the pole. But the grease has to be replaced from time to time. Wood ducks aren’t territorial, so more than one box can be erected in an area. |
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