MWDI will develop this section as a pragmatic field guide and reference resource on all aspects of nest box program management to help improve productivity.  Field observations indicate that over 65% of Maryland's nest boxes are in poor condition, not cleaned or monitored annually, have high predator exposure and/or are not effectively situated.

Topics will include: 

• Box design & placement issues (clustering, visibility, and spacing)
• Predator guard pro's & con's
• Predator & competitor avoidance
• Nest results' interpretation & productivity implications
• Case study reviews - problems, tactics, strategies, results
  (See snake avoidance example provided below)

The goal is:

	To share the experiences of others
	To display summaries of relevant published research and
	To communicate the results of MWDI's "cause & effect" studies

Content development for the Field Guide will evolve especially as MWDI completes each section of the Certification Program training manual.

Based on MWDI's 2005-2006 direct experience with over 300 of Maryland's public land boxes, the primary opportunities that substantially improved nesting performance using a Best Practices' approach were:

Best Practice Opportunities At a Glance...

Reduce Nest Strife & Abandonment

Improve egg hatch % - reduce nest dumping

Predator guards are critical

Guard is worthless if...

Must close all gaps to be effective

Case Study "Best Practices" Example

Kent County
Typical predator control challenge -
"mature" box program
Two-year experience

Year 1 - snake gets all eggs despite repair to guard and gap foamed before nest season. Vegetation "ramp" (no longer existing) is believed to have allowed snake access above the guard.

Year 2 - pre-nest season, vegetation around guard removed, 5 ft+ snake still wins, gets full egg clutch.  Guard is about 28" off the ground at its lowest point.

Intended Solution  = get guard 4 ft off relatively   hard marsh and vegetation free ground. Given the age of the box, guard and inflexibility to lift it, however, a new box and guard will be installed at desired height at the same location to see if the snake (probably the same one) can be defeated in year 3!!