re: Rate this year's Louisiana Duck Season

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see Whistlers on boxes with wooducks alot. They dump nest with wooduck eggs and let female wooducks sit on them.

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bellies breed during their first year of life, establishing lifelong pair bonds during their first winter. Nest initiation occurs from April through August, a period approximately one month longer than prairie nesting ducks. Black-bellies nest in tree cavities and, similar to wood ducks, also have adapted to nesting in boxes. Where tree cavities are lacking, black-bellies will nest on the ground, often in grasses at the base of small trees or shrubs. Females lay an average of 13 eggs and both sexes incubate the eggs. Experiments have revealed that removal of either the female or the male during incubation results in abandonment of the nest. Apparently, participation of both the male and female is necessary for the nesting attempt to be successful.

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