references and links

The following sources were helpful in preparing the species account.

Paul J. Baicich and Colin J. O. Harrison, A Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and Nestlings of North American Birds, 2nd ed. (Academic Press, 1997, ISBN 0-12-072831-1).

Frank C. Bellrose and Daniel J. Holm, Ecology and Management of the Wood Duck (Stackpole Books, 1994, ISBN 0-8117-0605-2).

Arthur Cleveland Bent, Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl (Dover, 1962 [reprint of 1923 edition]).

Now available via the Familiar Birds project of Patricia Query Newforth.

Paul R. Ehrlich et al., The Birder's Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds (Simon & Schuster, 1988, ISBN 0-671-65989-8).

Gary R. Hepp and Frank C. Bellrose, "Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)" in The Birds of North America, No. 169, A. Poole and F. Gill, eds. (The Academy of Natural Sciences and The American Ornithologists' Union, 1995).

Jack Hope, "Breaking Out of the Box," Audubon 101:3 (May-June, 1999), pp. 86-91.

Popular treatment of the work of Semel and Sherman on brood parasitism.

Eugene E. Kenaga, "Brood Parasitism among Birds," Birding 29:5 (October, 1997), pp. 392-401.

National Geographic Society, Field Guide to the Birds of North America, 2nd ed., (1987, ISBN 0-87044-692-4).

Brad Semel and Paul W. Sherman, "Intraspecific Parasitism and Nest-Site Competition in Wood Ducks," Animal Behaviour 61:4 (2001), pp. 787-803.

Makes the case that what is known as parasitism may be a side effect of competition for high-quality nest locations. Presents evidence that wood ducks do not parasitize nests of close relatives, and hence that parasitism is not a form of cooperative breeding.

Donald and Lillian Stokes, A Guide to Bird Behavior, vol. III (Little, Brown, 1989, ISBN 0-316-81737-6).

John K. Terres, The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds (Wings Books, 1991 [reprint of 1980 Knopf edition], ISBN 0-517-03288-0).

The North Dakota State University Extension Service and the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center have published an excellent site, Homemade Nest Boxes for Cavity-nesting Ducks. Along with extensive information on building wooden and metal nest boxes, there is a species account page with a fine image of a Wood Duck hen and ducklings. The monochrome images are quick to load.

Also take note of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's citizen science project, The Birdhouse Network. TBN has an entire section of its site dedicated to woodworking plans for nest boxes for several species of cavity-nesters, as well as plans for predator guards.

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, Division of Wildlife Management, has published the booklet "North Carolina Wood Ducks: Natural History and Management," available for download. Nest box plans are also available from Ducks Unlimited Canada. The Alabama Cooperative Extension Service offers tips on establishing habitat: try to ignore the section on "harvesting." A summary from the Fire Effects Information Service, maintained by the Rocky Mountain Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service, also focuses on habitat management.

The Ottawa Duck Club's site includes statistical information. Bill Hilton, Jr. has a great set of photos of a brood of ducklings taken on Hilton Pond during the 2003 breeding season.

Yearly population trend data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey is available. A page published by the Illinois Natural History Survey and Department of Natural Resources gives a terse review of research literature, with special attention to food items taken.

Images from the popular Ducks at a Distance are now available online.

More than 40 audio clips from the Macaulay Library are now available for free (unfortunately, the search results page is not usably linkable).

Cal State Stanislaus offers a one-unit course (Zoology 4650) in Wood Duck field study each spring.

A video clip in the PBS's American Field Guide repository, produced by Maryland Public Television, documents efforts to videotape Wood Duck nesting activity at the Patuxent Research Refuge and National Wildlife Visitor Center in Maryland.

A female Wood Duck was featured as GrrlScientist's mystery bird for 16 October 2008.

The National Gallery of Art has in its online collection an 1834 engraving of a Wood Duck pair, by Robert Havell, after Audubon.