What a fascinating observation. Per https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mallard/lifehistory , Mallards eat a good deal of animal matter, mainly invertebrates, during the summer. In my experience, it's rare to see them eat any critter that's bigger than a half-inch or so. However, a couple years ago I watched in amazement as a drake used its bill to dispatch a medium-sized bullfrog and then struggled for several minutes to swallow it.
Peter Ruprecht Superior On Thu, Aug 26, 2021 at 1:11 PM [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > In the shallow bay at the end of the Boulder West trailhead yesterday, our > Boulder Bird Club group observed something very strange. A mother > Pied-billed Grebe was actively hunting and feeding what looked like small > crayfish to her three young (they still had head stripes). They were being > followed by a lone Mallard, which would aggressively pursue a young grebe > after it had been given the crawfish by its mother until it was able to > snatch the crawfish from the young grebe's mouth. The grebes would dive > and thus lose the Mallard for a moment, but as soon as it popped up, the > Mallard was after it again. This happened three times within 15 minutes. > I thought Mallards were vegetarians! > > -- > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "Colorado Birds" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en > * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include > bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate > * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/8074dc53-4bb3-4536-a5dc-8ea5fe422f00n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/8074dc53-4bb3-4536-a5dc-8ea5fe422f00n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CAHPXVBa7L%2BaENUigqTsP_nJtY-2hucS9RdyoWuMLF2ue2Ffpog%40mail.gmail.com.
