A project by a Bismarck Scout troop aims to protect mallard birds over the winter

Bismarck, North Dakota – A little more than two weeks remain till the first day of winter. Scouts from Troop 123 are working to ensure that mallard birds have a warm and secure home to nest in when the cold season finally arrives.

For the past six months, Jackson Sperry has been working on a conservation project to enhance mallard duck habitats.

“It’s going to keep them up above the ground away from the coyotes, away from the fox, and away from people in general because usually mallards like to nest on the land and close to the shore. And as we all know, North Dakotans like to fish, and intentionally or unintentionally, they do get interrupted by that,” said Kendrick Becker, Scoutmaster for Troop 123.

Sperry is building a hen house with seven other Scouts by rolling 14-gauge mesh wire into circles and cutting it all together.

The project will only be half finished after these six mallard hen houses are finished.

“We’re going to wait until the water freezes over so we can walk on top of the ice, and then drill a hole. And then use the pole driver and drive it into the ground. And then connect the T-pole on top with the nest portion already in,” said Jackson Sperry with Troop 123.

Sperry and the other Scouts gained leadership and construction management skills from the hen house project.

“The mallards will sit inside of this, and the flax is to keep them safe,” said Sperry.

Sperry will be qualified to get the Eagle Scout title after the project is completed.

Sperry projects that the project will come with a cost of about $600.