Monitoring Texas Wood Ducks With a Cooperative Nest-Box Program

We analyzed 8 years of data from the Texas Cooperative Nest Box Program initiated in 1988 by Texas Parks and Wildlife, USA, as a means of involving private cooperators in statewide wood duck (Aix sponsa) management. Cooperators operated ≤9 boxes and most reported nest-box data for only 1 year (56.5%...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of wildlife management 2007-11, Vol.71 (8), p.2743-2748
Main Authors: RANSOM, DEAN, FRENTRESS, CARL D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aix sponsa
Animal behavior
Animal nesting
Animal reproduction
Aquatic birds
Birds
Boxes
Data collection
Data entry
Ducklings
Ducks
Ecoregions
Estimates
hardwood forests
mixed forests
monitoring
nest box
nest boxes
nest parasitism
nest success
Nesting
Poultry production
Prairies
Research Notes
Riparian forests
Success
Texas
Timber
Wildlife
Wildlife ecology
Wildlife habitats
Wildlife management
wood ducks
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Summary:We analyzed 8 years of data from the Texas Cooperative Nest Box Program initiated in 1988 by Texas Parks and Wildlife, USA, as a means of involving private cooperators in statewide wood duck (Aix sponsa) management. Cooperators operated ≤9 boxes and most reported nest-box data for only 1 year (56.5%) and 2 years (20.6%) over the 8-year life of the project. Mean nest-box use differed among ecological regions of the state (F = 4.23, df = 6, P = 0.001) but did not exceed 30% in any region. Mean nest-box success ranged between 74–91% across ecological regions during 1988–1995, but annual estimates of nest-box success lacked precision (CVs >30%) in most years for all regions. Our project was unsuccessful as a management tool for monitoring wood duck demographics. Future efforts should focus on improving the amount and quality of data collected from box-nesting wood ducks.
ISSN:0022-541X
1937-2817
DOI:10.2193/2007-108