Wood Duck Banding
At Carolina Wildlands Foundation, we are proud to support students as they grow into conservation professionals. Whether they are returning for master’s research or interning for another semester, we are always excited to be part of their journey.
One of those students is Clay Tiller—a former Francis Marion University fellow who’s continued on the conservation path and is now working with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR).
A few months ago, Clay reached out to us in search of potential sites for Wood Duck banding. Banding helps researchers better understand migration routes, track populations, and guide conservation and management strategies. Together, we identified three promising sites and began baiting them with corn—placed in shallow water near the pond edges, where ducks flying overhead could spot it easily.
The plan was simple: if Wood Ducks showed up on our game cameras, a team from SCDNR would visit, safely capture the ducks, band them, and return them to the water.
But… nature had other plans.
Despite our best efforts, not a single Wood Duck came by for a snack. Instead, our cameras caught a surprise lineup of other curious visitors: White-tailed Deer, Northern Raccoons, and a whole cast of wading birds—including Great Blue Herons, Little Blue Herons, and Great Egrets. One of the more unexpected guests? Snapping Turtles, happily helping themselves to the corn.
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So, while we didn’t band any Wood Ducks this time, the effort still gave us a valuable glimpse into the diverse wildlife thriving at our sites—and that is always a win in our book! We are looking forward to partnering with SCDNR again next year and giving the ducks another shot to make an appearance.
