Is it natural for a male mallard duck to leave its wife and its eggs?
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Question by : Is it natural for a male mallard duck to leave its wife and its eggs?
These mallard ducks have made a nest in a bush in my front yard. We use to see the male all the time looking for food but now hes no where in site. Therefore the female had to stay with her eggs all the time to protect them and when she trys to leave to get food the neighbourhood cats attack the eggs. Do you think the male will come back? Wil the eggs be okay?
Can you help? Leave your own answer in the comments!
2 Responses to Is it natural for a male mallard duck to leave its wife and its eggs?
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I have pet call ducks, which look like Mallards. The male usually stays fairly close.
you can buy duck food at a livestock feed store and put it in a bowl near them.
I would ask neighbors to keep the cats in -because they will attack the ducklings for sure (duck eggs take 28=30 days to hatch
http://therealowner.com/birds/keeping-pet-call-ducks/
CF_
March 1, 2013 at 11:40 am
when one observes many mallard pairs in the wild you can see various behavioral differences.
mallard pairs stay together for life (usually extremely brief due to hawks, foxes, coyotes) and during most of the year beginning early spring, males become aggressive and if they have no mate or even if they do, they will attack others females.
some males have strong protective instincts and defend, defend defend, others do not. this is genetic/personality related. some males never leave their families and are always close by. the rest of them draw closer as the family grows, mallard dads DONT care about their ducklings (UNLIKE GEESE)
your problem is not the missing dad but the life of the mallard mom with cats around. she cannot protect anything even her life with cats, or foxes or coyotes about. she cannot raise ducklings where she has nested. even if she manages to survive and eggs hatch where can she walk ducklings to water which is where she must return?? is your bush VERY close to pond, lake, stream, wetland?
I would call forestry service or bird rehab and get opinions before you are disappointed in bad outcome.
fortuitouz
March 1, 2013 at 12:08 pm