The wood duck may also lay eggs in the nests of other cavity-nesting species, such as the hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus), a species which will in turn sometimes lay its own eggs in the nests of wood ducks. The wood duck also commonly competes for suitable nesting holes with species such as squirrels, honey bees, hooded mergansers, the introduced European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), and other birds.