Wildlife Sign- Wood Ducks

Bogs are ideal habitat for a myriad of waterfowl species, and wood ducks are no exception to this. Wood ducks (Aix Sponsa) are a medium duck species that is found all across North America. They are migratory, but spend their summers in the northern United States. These birds have been observed in the Kanokolous Bog, as it provides ideal habitat. “Wood ducks feed upon native bog and wetland species, such as acorns, soybeans, smartweed, water primrose, panic grass, duckweed, millet, waterlily, blackberries and wild cherries (Wood Duck - Mattamuskeet - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2015).” These are all species that are present in bogs, and Kanokolous is no exception. In addition to this these birds are cavity nesters, and are often observed to have an established nest in the cavity of trees like Red Maples. This is definitely the case at our study area as a large percentage of the trees skirting the bog are a mix of young and adult red maples, making suitable nesting locations for these birds. “They typically choose a tree more than 1 foot and often 2 feet in diameter, with a cavity anywhere from 2–60 feet high (higher sites seem to be preferred)(Wood Duck Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2015).”