Nest box utilization by black-bellied whistling ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis) over a 12year (1964-75) period was 81%. Proximity of water was not critical for this species; the ducks also utilized natural cavities more than 1,000 m from water. Of 778 nests of 1 or more eggs, 279 were incubated and 75% of these hatched. At least 70% of all clutches were dump nests with only 15% of the clutches falling within the range (9-18, mean of 13) presumed to be the eggs of a single hen. The remaining 15% of the nests contained less than 9 eggs. About 48% of the eggs in incubated nests produced ducklings but only 20% of 21,982 eggs laid in nest boxes hatched, largely because of desertion from dump nesting. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 43(4):936-943 The black-bellied whistling duck is a Neotropical species usually reaching the northern limit of its breeding distribution in southern Texas. This species, perhaps singularly among the whistling ducks, utilizes natural cavities as nesting sites. They seemed adaptable to a nest box management program that was initiated by Bolen (1967a) in southern Texas. This paper describes a 12-year history of utilization of nest boxes and presents additional information on the breeding biology of black-bellied whistling ducks. The data reported here were collected principally by Bolen and his associates for the 1st 11 years of the study and by McCamant for 1975. Our field efforts were assisted by B. W. Cain, D. E. Delnicki, R. K. Metzger, S. E. Labuda, S. C. Shults, and B. W. Bolen. Our manuscript benefited from the reviews of D. E. Delnicki, B. R. Chapman, and J. W. Tunnell, Jr. This research was supported by grants from the Rob and Bessie Welder Wildlife Foundation and was supervised, in part, by the Biology Faculty at Corpus Christi State University.
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McCamant et al. (1979) studied this question.