Home Made Nest Sites for Mallards

	Terry A. Messmer NDSU Extension Service
	Michael A. Johnson ND Game and Fish Department
	Forrest B. Lee Great Plains Wildlife Services
NDSU EXTENSION SERVICE North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58105

Introduction

Nearly everyone who lives in North Dakota is likely to be familiar with the mallard duck, especially the "green head" drake. Mallards have long been a favorite of duck hunters as both a sport bird and excellent table bird. Non-hunters also enjoy these beautiful birds through the year.

This magnificant bird is now in trouble in North Dakota and elsewhere on its breeding grounds. The number of nesting mallards has dropped to but a fraction of its former abundance. This drastic decline is due to habitat loss and low nesting success. Studies of ground nesting mallards have indicated a nesting success of 20 percent or lower. This is due principally to the destruction of nests and nesting females by predators such as fox and raccoon. One way nesting success can be substantially increased is through the use of elevated nesting structures.

This circular contains information and plans for the construction, placement, and maintenance of two types of elevated nesting structures that you can use to increase mallard nesting success in your area.

This resource is based on the following source (Northern Prairie Publication 0372):

Messmer, Terry A., Micheal A. Johnson, and Forrest B. Lee.  1989.  Homemade 
     nest sites for mallards.  NDSU Extension Service, Fargo, ND. 8 pp.

This resource should be cited as:

Messmer, Terry A., Micheal A. Johnson, and Forrest B. Lee.  1989.  Homemade 
     nest sites for mallards.  NDSU Extension Service, Fargo, ND. 
     Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online.
     http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/homenest/index.htm
     (Version 02APR98).

Life History
Nesting Baskets
- Wire Basket Structure
- Fiberglass Basket Structure
- Nest Material
- Placement (Wires and Fiberglass Structures)
- Maintenance (Wire and Fiberglass Structures)
Conclusion
References

Figures

Figure 1 -- Wire Basket Pattern
Figure 2 -- Wire Basket Assembly
Figure 3 -- Wire Basket Structure
Figure 4 -- Fiberglass Basket Structure
Figure 5 -- Flax Nesting Material
Figure 6 -- Wire Basket With Flax Straw
Figure 7 -- Placement of Nesting Structure
Figure 8 -- Maintenance of Nesting Baskets

Downloading Instructions -- Instructions on downloading and extracting files from this site.

homenest.zip (202K) -- Home Made Nest Sites for Mallards

Installation: Extract all files and open index.htm in a web browser.

Home Made Nest Sites for Mallards

Introduction

Table of Contents

Figures