WRGT : M.R. DUCKS ! Traditional Cache
gcartner: making way for the new caches
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I was out for a walk on a beautiful, sunny day on the Western
Reserve Greenway Trail when I encountered a marshy area perfect for
wood ducks. Although I am a reformed duck hunter I still can spot a
great duck area when I see one ! Congratulations to Burning Phoenix
for FTF !
C.M. DUCKS ! / M.R. NOT ! / M.R.2 ! / C.M. WINGS ? / C.M FEET ? /
Y.I.B ! / M.R. DUCKS ! //// Latin: Aix sponsa Average length: M
20", F 19" Average weight: M 1.5 lbs., F 1.4 lbs. Description: Male
wood ducks have a crested head that is iridescent green and purple
with a white stripe leading from the eye to the end of the crest,
and another narrower white stripe from the base of the bill to the
tip of the crest. The throat is white and the chest is burgundy
with white flecks, gradually grading into a white belly. The bill
is brightly patterned black, white and red. The legs and feet are a
dull straw yellow and the iris is red. The male call is a thin,
high, rising "jeeeeee." Female wood ducks have a gray-brown head
and neck with a brownish, green, glossed crest. A white teardrop
shaped patch surrounds the brownish-black eye. The throat is white
and the breast is gray-brown stippled with white, fading into the
white belly. The back is olive brown with a shimmer of iridescent
green. The bill is blue-gray and the legs and feet are dull
grayish-yellow. Females utter a drawn-out, rising squeal, "oo-eek,"
when flushed, and a sharp "cr-r-ek, cr-e-ek" for an alarm call.
Breeding: Wood ducks breed across most of the central and eastern
United States, southeastern Canada and along the Pacific coast from
California to British Columbia. The highest breeding densities
occur in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. In recent decades, the
breeding range has expanded westward into the Great Plains region
following development of wooded riparian corridors. Wood ducks
prefer riparian habitats, wooded swamps and freshwater marshes.
Females nest in tree cavities or nest boxes and lay an average of
12 bone-white eggs. Migrating and Wintering: In the eastern and
western United States, 30-75 percent of wood ducks are permanent
residents. Migratory wood ducks use the Atlantic Flyway from New
Brunswick to Georgia and south to eastern Texas and the West
Indies. The western migratory birds use the Pacific Flyway from
British Columbia to the Central Valley of California. Both
populations winter over southern portions of their respective
breeding ranges, with small numbers south to central Mexico. No
clearly defined migratory path exists for interior birds, though
they seem to converge south of Kentucky along the Mississippi River
floodplain. Generally, wintering habitat differs little from
habitats used at other times of the year. Wood ducks predominantly
use forested wetlands with a variety of hardwood tree species. Wood
ducks are resident in Cuba and are scarce winter visitors to Mexico
and Bermuda. They occasionally winter in the Cayman Islands (Scott
and Carbonell, 1986). Population: Reliable estimates of wood duck
populations do not exist due to the difficulty of surveying birds
in forested habitat, though data from the Breeding Bird Survey
(1966-1994) and Christmas Bird Count (1959-1988) indicate
increasing populations in nearly all regions of North America.
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