Survival, Renesting, And Return Of Adult Wood Ducks To Previously Used Nest Boxes

During 1961 adult female wood ducks (Aix sponsa) were removed from nest boxes on three ponds near Raleigh and banded with U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service leg bands. During the 1962 nesting season ducks were again removed from nests for banding and a large percentage of them were found to be ducks returning from the previous year. An analysis of the first two years of the banding study revealed that (1) no nests were deserted as a result of banding during late incubation, (2) survival of adults as measured by the return of nesting birds was 47%, (3) there was a high rate (70%) of return of birds to individual boxes in which they had previously nested, and (4) some females produced two successful broods in a single season.