Managed nest-box programs can significantly increase local populations of Eastern Bluebirds and other cavity-nesting species. Poorly designed boxes, however, may become population sinks rather than source centers. Internal box temperature is an important determinant of box success. Bluebird eggs and nestlings, for example, cannot survive temperatures exceeding 107′ F (41′ C).

Several researchers have investigated construction materials and nest box temperatures. Lawrence Zeleny in 1968 and Robert M. Patterson in 1980 studied wood, metal, and plastic bluebird boxes. Wood Duck boxes also have been studied. J. A. L. Mertens in 1977 developed a model predicting box temperature for any material and ambient temperature, but its complexity discourages amateur use.

The goal of this project was to examine the effects of construction material on nest box temperature and to develop a graphed model of the relationship.

The relative merits of predator control and habitat development as bobwhite quail management practices have long been debated. A recent study in North Carolina sheds some light on this contentious issue.

The study took place during 1997–1999 on the coastal plain. This region consists of about 40% farmland devoted to soybeans, corn, cotton, wheat, and tobacco. The researchers selected 3 areas. In each area, they selected 4 farms. One farm served as the experimental control (no management), one received only predator control, one received only field border development, and one received both predator control and field border development. (more…)

Ducks abound in the Highland Lakes area, and are found, basically, in two varieties — the puddle duck and the diving duck. According to Derrick Wolter, wildlife biologist with Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, the puddle duck species include mallard, gadwall, wigeon, blue-winged teal, green-winged teal, shovelers, and pintail. Diving ducks include ring-necked, lesser scaup, greater scaup, canvasback, redheads, and buffleheads.

Probably the best known of the puddle ducks in this area are the mallards, pintails, blue-winged teal, and green-winged teal. Puddle ducks are so named because of their feeding habits. These waterfowl prefer to dine on submerged vegetation in shallow puddles or along the shores of lakes and rivers in water no deeper than about 12-inches.

Puddle ducks feeding in shallow water

Their diet, in addition, includes lots of seeds — from corn, wheat, bulrushes, wild rice, primrose, willow, water elm, oak, hackberry and other trees along streams. And they also dine on mollusks, insects, small fish, tadpoles, freshwater snails, and fish eggs. (more…)

This year, the famous eagles’ nest east of Llano has lost one of its adult eagles. However, since there were three adults tending the nest for the past several years, life goes on for the others. A male and female adult pair already have laid eggs in the nest, which sits in a large native pecan tree right on the banks of the Llano River.

In fact, one of the eggs probably already has hatched, a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologist said, and the eagles are on their way to another successful nesting season. “The way the adults have been acting, with lots of activity and looking down into the nest, I think one of them has been hatched,” said TPWD wildlife biologist Dale Schmidt of Llano.

“I drive by there every day and there’s been a big difference in the activity in the nest.”

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How many duck hunting camps are there are around Greenwood? “Hundreds,” Henry Flautt says. He then explains to how duck hunting has driven land values around the Delta to record levels. “It’s unbelievable.”

It wasn’t always that way. We are sitting in a duck blind that Kenneth Thompson’s family bought for 50 cents an acre in the 1930s so their son could have a place to hunt. The land had been cut over and nobody wanted to pay the taxes on it. So it sold for pennies at a tax sale.

Fast forward to present day and currently the land is worth thousands of dollars an acre - simply as a place to hunt teal, gadwall, and mallard. Heirs of Atlanta’s Cox family just purchased thousands of acres in Carroll County. The Gaylord’s, Oklahoma City’s publishing family, recently purchased a huge tract of Delta land. Their sole purpose: to hunt ducks. (more…)

Green-winged teal are the smallest of the puddle ducks in the Central Flyway. They have a length 13-16 inches and have an average weight of ½ to 1 pound.The drake (male) is beautifully colored with a dark, reddish-brown head, a green streak over the eye, and a vertical white stripe on the side. The female is primarily brown. The speculum shows green in both sexes. Green-winged teal fly swiftly, often in small, tight flocks. Drakes whistle and have a tittering call; hens sound a faint quack.

Green-winged drake - Click for larger view

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The Northern pintail, commonly referred to as pintail, has a body-length of 20-29 inches and averages 1.9-2.3-pounds. Drakes are also called “sprigs.” Pintail are among the most beautifully marked of all the ducks.

A pintail male in breeding plumage has a brown head, white neck and breast, and a gray back and sides. Females are grayish brown and are typically the most mis-identified duck of all the ducks harvested in the central flyway of the United States. Typically, novice birders and hunters think pintail hens are gadwall. The speculum is metallic greenish-brown with a white rear border. But far more noticeable in flight is the male’s long, slender, pointed tail. Pintails are extremely graceful and fast fliers, fond of zig-zagging from great heights before leveling off to land. Voice: the drake has a flute-like whistle, the hen a soft quack.

Click photos for larger view

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Gadwall are 19-23 inches inches in length and average 1.8-2.2 pounds in weight. Sometimes referred to as “gray ducks.” Male gadwall in breeding plumage have brown heads, gray bodies and black tails. The female is similar, but more brown in color. The legs are yellow. This is the only puddle duck with white in its speculum. The drake whistles and sounds a kack-kock; the hen quacks like a mallard, but more rapidly and higher pitched. (more…)