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Re: Mallard's as Parents



I think your mallards are probably of domestic stock, and may have lost
parenting skills during domestication. Most people who raise mallards use a
chicken, usually a game or bantam - breeds with good mothering skills - to
incubate and care for the young ducks. I have seen this in wild mallards
from domestic stock. Mallards who do not migrate but are from wild stock are
far better parents, though can be seen as "nuisance" birds.
Alex Netherton, the Appalachian Naturalist
alex@alexnetherton.com
Asheville, NC
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mountainbirding/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/appalachian-naturalist-news/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carolinanaturalist/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/carolinaponds/
----- Original Message -----
From: "G GiLLaM" <poco@inteliport.com>
To: "Carolina Birds" <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
Sent: Monday, May 13, 2002 1:05 PM
Subject: Mallard's as Parents


A mallard pair has one duckling as Osprey got the other one. I was wondering
if ducks raise their young like Canada geese. The reason asking is, this
pair leaves their very young duckling for hours on end by itself. Yesterday
they left it in the pond and I am not certain if they ever returned to it. I
have noticed them returning on other occasions. It swims around and around
looking for them, just peeping away. Very sad.

Are they just bad parents are is this normal behavior or have they abandoned
it? I'm fairly new to pond life as this is my second summer on the pond.

Ginny Gillam
Edenton, NC