Wood Ducks

Wood Ducks. . , The marshes at Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge provide an important home for wood ducks. The male, or drake, is quite colorful, making him easier to identify than the brownish-gray female, or hen. Wood ducks feed on the surface of the water, eating aquatic plants like duckweed, as well as insects, minnows, and frogs. , Nesting Boxes , Using their own down feathers, hens construct their nests in tree cavities or in man-made nesting boxes. Because habitat destruction and timbering operations destroyed many of the older forests where tree cavities were most likely to be found, wood ducks readily use man-made nesting boxes. Wood duck boxes are located throughout the Refuge. The cone-shaped device under the box serves as a predator guard, which helps prevent raccoons and snakes from entering the boxes and eating the eggs or chicks.