Syd Curtis wrote:
>
> At about 6:30 this morning I was interested to see a pair of Wood Ducks
> _Chenonetta jubata_ perched on top of a brick chimney of a house in the
> suburb of Bulimba (Brisbane)...
Here in South-east Melbourne, Wood Ducks have become increasingly common
over the last 5 years or so, particularly on golf courses. In the last 3
years there have been a number (10?) of records of them on rooftops and
around chimneys in spring.
My guess is they are thinking about using the chimneys as nest holes. On
the nearby golf courses I've found a couple of nests in hollow gum
stumps or limbs a few metres from the ground. In both cases the
orientation was very chimney-like, i.e. the hole was almost vertical.
Locally, the number of such hollows seems very small compared with the
number of Wood Duck pairs.
But I've never heard - yet - of them entering chimneys or nesting there.
Has anyone else ? (No reference to this in my four fieldguides. Can't
afford access to HANZAB on Sundays !).
Michael Norris
PS. Syd - thanks for your other note.
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