Interloper

Most people , I think, will be familiar with he Cuckoo's habit of laying its eggs in the nest of another species and turfing out the eggs of the resident bird. This duck has a slightly different approach in that the female Carolina Duck or Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) which is native to Canada, the United States and Mexico where it lives on shallow lakes, woodland pools and marshes is known to sneak into a neighbours nest and deposit her own eggs, leaving the unsuspecting mum to be with up to 30 eggs. Often they make their nests in the hollows of trees close to water however due to competition for suitable nesting sites (from birds of prey or mammals such as squirrels) they can nest up to one mile from their water source and this may account for the habit of laying eggs in a fellow Wood ducks nest. This is known as "nest dumping" and unfortunately leads to unsuccessful incubation. They can produce two broods in a season which is unique to this species in North America.

When they hatch young wood ducks will jump down from their cavity in the tree, sometimes from as high as 50 feet landing on the water or a soft surface such as leaf litter. The mother duck will then call to her day old chicks and lead them to where the can find their food. They have a varied diet of berries , seeds and insects, they also eat acorns which  after swallowing them they can crush in their gizzard.