I recommend mounting nest boxes on metal poles in the water. We craft baffles from 6” black stove vent pipe. Entrance holes do not need to face the water.
Nest box plans that work best for us are from "Woodworking for Wildlife: Homes for Birds and Mammals" by Carroll Henderson. (I will find the Wood duck nest box plan.)
It does not seem possible for there to be too many nest boxes. For 20+ years a neighbor in our sub has maintained 30 nest boxes on his two-acre property. Most years all the boxes are occupied by Wood ducks, with one or two occupied by Mergansers. Wood ducks nest in the five boxes on our 3/4-acre property every year.
Crystal Keller
Green Oak Township
Livingston County
I am consulting with a private landowner in SW Michigan who wants to put
Wood Duck nest boxes up adjacent to a small 1-acre man-made pond that is
between an old growth woodland and a second-growth swamp-woods.
What is the best design for a Wood Duck nest box? There are a lot of
opinions, and plans, on the internet. Some have a "ladder" inside, and some
don't.
There are options to put the boxes on metal poles or 4x4 wooden posts.
Which is better? How high above the water? How far offshore? I assume that
the nest hole should face the water? Which type of predator baffle is best?
How closely can nest boxes be spaced? Is it possible to put up too many?
There are also some reasonably large trees on a couple of small peninsulas
into the pond, within 20 feet of the water's edge, and surrounded by rather
open ground. Are nest boxes on tree trunks preferable to putting them in
the water? If so, how high to place them? How to prevent predation?
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