Nest Sites Used by Wood Ducks and Common Goldeneyes in New Brunswick

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Abstract
Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) and elm (Ulmus americana) are dominant tree species in the floodplain forest along the St. John River in central New Brunswick. In the continuous forest there were 5. 5 "good" duck nest cavities per hectare (2. 47 acres). Silver maples or elms growing on marginal sites were more likely to contain a suitable nesting cavity. For all tree species around active duck nest sites, the total density and dominance values were 19 to 32[degree]/o of the values in the nearby forest, suggesting that for ducks to use the area the forest around cavities must be relatively open. Around the sites of 24 wood duck (Aix sponsa) and 16 goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) nests, the trees numbered about the same, but they were larger at wood duck sites. Very little competition for nest sites was observed between wood ducks and goldeneyes; they appeared to use different forest areas. The nest cavities used by goldeneyes varied less in dimension than those used by wood ducks, even though the same variety was available to each species. Cavity diameter seemed important in goldeneye nest selection. The few black duck (Anas rubripes) cavities differed from those of wood ducks and goldeneyes in being open and shallow.

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