. The Canadian field-naturalist. Notes A Nesting Raft for Ducks Abstract. A simple nesting raft for Mallards and Black Ducks is described. Structural details are dis- cussed, plus the results of five years of field testing. There are thousands of small lakes and beaver ponds in northern Ontario but these water areas produce surprisingly few ducks. This situation appears to be due, in part at least, to a scarcity of predator-free nesting sites. The few ducks which do nest successfully in this area usually choose offshore islands in the larger lakes, in order to escape from mammalian predators (
. The Canadian field-naturalist. Notes A Nesting Raft for Ducks Abstract. A simple nesting raft for Mallards and Black Ducks is described. Structural details are dis- cussed, plus the results of five years of field testing. There are thousands of small lakes and beaver ponds in northern Ontario but these water areas produce surprisingly few ducks. This situation appears to be due, in part at least, to a scarcity of predator-free nesting sites. The few ducks which do nest successfully in this area usually choose offshore islands in the larger lakes, in order to escape from mammalian predators (Young 1968). For the wildlife manager, the obvious solution to this problem is to provide safe, artificial nesting sites. Elsewhere in North America, artificial nest- ing devices have been used extensively to increase wetland utilization by ducks. Most of the earlier types were modifications of European designs, such as the pitcher-shaped wicker baskets from the Netherlands and the woven reed wigwams from Denmark (Burger and Webster 1964). One of the more successful North American models is a type of open-ended cylinder which is either attached to trees in flooded swamplands or mounted on poles (Boyer 1958). There are no recorded instances of any of these devices having been used successfully in the forested regions of Ontario. The Sudbury Game and Fish Protective Association erected a large number of nesting cylinders around a small lake near Sudbury in 1963 and 1964 but none was used. The birds appeared to avoid all unnatural- looking structures. In order to overcome this aver- sion, a more rustic, brush-covered raft was tried. This design proved to be readily acceptable to both Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and Black Ducks (Anas nihripes). Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the main structural details of the nesting raft. It is made of 6 foot long cedar logs held together with 'two by fours'. The nest box, which is placed near the centre of the raft, is 18 inches square and 6 inches
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