Hi David,
We don't know if the Mallard drake in the vicinity was father to
those ducklings. Perhaps he was just a casual participant in the
excitement of the moment. I think the usual story is that the
Mallard male defends the nest territory only until the clutch is
complete, monopolizing the female until his paternity is assured, and
then he retires from the scene. Interestingly, Hal Harrison writes
that the male Mottled Duck (a very close congener of the Mallard)
defies the usual pattern, remaining in the nest area during
incubation, following the female around when she leaves to feed,
etc. He speculates that Mottled Ducks may mate for life.
-Geo
On May 28, 2010, at 12:19 PM, David Ruppert wrote:
Caroline also mentioned that the male Mallard was staying with the
mother and ducklings. This is unusual for male ducks, right? How
unusual?
David
Geo Kloppel wrote:
Hi Caroline, In A FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS' NESTS Hal Harrison
mentions that Mallards occasionally nest in trees. In the guide,
each species is allotted one page max, at the bottom of which is a
catch-all section called "Notes", which often includes
descriptions of unusual nest locations. His notes on the Mallard
page are as follows: "Perhaps more than any other waterfowl,
Mallards seek unnatural nesting sites: the rain gutter on roof of
a 4-story building, incubating 7 eggs; in vines at top of a stone
wall, 12 feet from ground, incubating 12 eggs; in accumulated
leaves at bottom of window well, 4-5 feet below ground level; on
brick floor of an open recess on side of a building, 35 feet from
ground." The notes for House Wren are predictably funny, but you
should see the entry for Rough-winged Swallow! -Geo On May 27,
2010, at 1:24 PM, Caroline Manring wrote:
We were walking at Stewart Park, and saw a Mallard couple making
a fuss, circling around a lawn area and landing, then taking off
and circling again, agitating and vocalizing. We watched for
awhile and then heard peeping near a tree. We assumed there was a
duckling in the scrubby growth around the base of the tree
somehow caught or injured, so we looked, but found nothing, and
it began to dawn on us that the peeping was coming from up in the
tree. I combed my overheated brain for an explanation, and it
thought maybe a hawk or crow had made off with the duckling and
then dropped it by chance into the crotch of a tree while being
chased by another bird. Well, there was indeed a Mallard couple's
duckling up in the tree, but it hadn't been dropped there by a
predator. There were at least three other offspring, all in a
nest about twenty feet up, which the female finally landed near
and waddled onto, presumably after deciding we didn't pose an
immediate threat. Then she flew down and circled the tree on
foot, vocalizing. Suddenly, a duckling came tumbling out of the
tree, bounced alarmingly high off the ground after it hit, rolled
a little, and then got up and proceeded to follow mom back and
forth in front of the tree as she vocalized to the rest of the
brood. The tree rained ducklings at intervals until three were
following her as she paced. She gave the fourth duckling extra
time but couldn't persuade it, so she headed into the pond with
the three ducklings she had managed to collect, and was joined
there by the male. I'd never heard of Mallards nesting in trees
before, but there they were. It seems they found a suitable
solution to the problem of nesting in a park with lots of foot
and dog traffic. Caroline Manring Ithaca
Geo Kloppel Bowmaker & Restorer 227 Tupper Road Spencer NY 14883
607 564 7026 g...@cornell.edu geoklop...@gmail.com -- Cayugabirds-
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submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
-- David Ruppert Andrew Schultz, Jr., Professor of Engineering
Professor of Statistical Science Editor, Electronic Journal of
Statistics email: d...@cornell.edu WWW: http://
people.orie.cornell.edu/~davidr/ office hours: http://
people.orie.cornell.edu/~davidr/officehours.html Mailing Address:
School of Operations Research and Information Engineering 1170
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Bowmaker & Restorer
227 Tupper Road
Spencer NY 14883
607 564 7026
g...@cornell.edu
geoklop...@gmail.com
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