Wood Ducks are a precocial types, implying their young are reasonably fully grown and mobile from the minute of their hatching. Ducklings normally leave the nest within a day approximately of hatching by jumping out of package and following their mom around for defense. While there are a great deal of ducklings in this image, not all of the eggs hatched most likely since they didn’t get adequate heat or due to problems. (Felicia Wang/Courtesy)
Southeast location citizens of Woodland citizens might be battling a losing fight versus those “no-see-ems” swarming out of the Yolo Bypass this time of year.
But the birds which feed in part on the small animals are obviously succeeding, based upon the variety of nesting boxes filled with chicks at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve.
While the birds in the Bypass and at the Nature Preserve might not be that carefully connected by location, it’s a sign of the remaining results from last winter season’s record rains.
Felicia Wang, a staff biologist at the Nature Preserve, reported today there are almost 50 boxes of numerous sizes at the Preserve, the neighboring Granite Woodland-Reiff Property and Capay Open Space Park, with the majority of inhabited by birds who are hatching either their very first or 2nd clutch of eggs.
“All the boxes are monitored on a weekly basis during the breeding season,” which covers from early March to early August, depending upon the types, Wang reported. “This involves two-to-three interns and me checking each box and recording data. The data we collect depends on the box type, but it generally includes species using the box, presence of adults, stage of nest development (if the birds construct their own nests), number of eggs, and number of nestlings/ducklings.”
The Preserve has 16 cavity-nesting songbird boxes, 17 Wood Duck boxes, a Northern Flicker box and a Kestrel/Screech Owl box. There are likewise 4 barn owl boxes however those are typically left unmonitored since they are difficult to gain access to with worrying the birds. There are likewise 15 cavity-nesting songbird boxes at the Capay Open Space Park, which were established in combination with the Yolo Audubon Society.
At the Granite Woodland-Reiff website, there are 3 cavity-nesting songbird boxes, which were set up last November.
Wang reported that since June 14 at the Nature Preserve, there have actually been 17 Tree Swallow nestlings that have actually already fledged, 5 Ash-throated Flycatchers nestlings that must fledge quickly, and 7 songbird boxes beginning a 2nd clutch, or 35 more eggs.
Meanwhile, 123 Wood Duck ducklings have actually hatched and 5 more bird boxes are beginning a 2nd clutch of eggs, for an overall of 44. Still, another box is inhabited by an Ash-throated Flycatcher family of 4 eggs.
Even a Kestrel/Screech Owl box is inhabited by a Wood Duck with 6 eggs, Wang reported, which was a surprise since she didn’t believe the duck might fit through the entryway hole.
Meanwhile, at the Capay Open Space Park, there have actually been a variety of nestlings hatched, consisting of 24 Tree Swallows, 16 House Finches, 11 Western Bluebirds and 5 Ash-throated Flycatchers. A number of Tree Swallows are even beginning their 2nd clutch of 8 eggs.
And while things have actually been sluggish at the Granite Woodland-Reiff website, Wang said that 2 Ash-throated Flycatcher eggs have actually just recently appeared in one box.
Wang likewise kept in mind that she and her group are recording any abnormalities or “interesting finds,” such as a number of Wood Duck eggs in the very same box that had “tiny holes drilled into them, perhaps by another Bird.” And that they likewise eliminate any intrusive bird nests or eggs, most significantly from European Starlings.
