Ducklings

[PhilNH5]

Hello all. This is Mary Lou, Phil's wife. I have a question.We have a small pond in the front of our house and a vernal spring in the back. Every year a pair of Mallards come in the spring and fall to the pond ( I presumed on their migration). They usually stay about a month. This year the pair had ducklings. She had 11 ducklings on Wednesday. My daughter saw them first and took pictures of them. We have seen the adult pair everyday since then on the pond or in the spring but no ducklings. Does this mean they are all dead already? I figured if the ducklings were all gone, then the couple would fly away but they are still here. I tried to go on-line to find any information about the habits of the ducklings, but was unsuccessful.
Thanks,
Mary Lou

 

[familyman]

Are you sure they're mallards? Did papa have a green head? That hen looks more like a black duck. That's not germaine to your question, but when ducks migrate they hook up with much larger flocks enroute and on the wintering grounds. They could be anywhere, unless they flew over where I hunt. Did they have any distinguishing markings? (only joking)

 

[ToadHill]

Mom has probably hidden them as they make good fox food when they are too young to fly or run fast enough to reach the water.

 

[MadDogDriver]

I hope you don't have any grates near by.

 

[Cliff_Johns]

I hope you don't have any grates near by.

Oh man, that is seriously sad.

Cliff

 

[archerynut]

Well I will have to tell the duckling story so far this year. Around Easter, there was one female and quite a few male mallards hanging around the backyard pond doing their thing. A little more than a month ago, I first spotted mom and 13 ducklings. Then occasionally for the first week I would see mom but no ducklings, then I saw here with 10, then with 8, then with 6. A week goes by and I don't see them at all. Then on Mothers Day (fitting isn't it) she shows up with 8 again. We do have a fair amount of predation from foxes, snapping turtles, and hawks. Those 8 have stayed around and I have seen them everyday for the past couple of weeks. Now, if I see them at the pond and I walk outside and say "quack, quack" the ducks come running so I can feed them bread. In summary, I wouldn't worry too much, they are probably hidden for now and they may reappear later. I did find one day when walking around the pond Mom would hide them in the tall weeds or under her wings so you could barely see them at all.

 

[Dusty]

My guess is that they are still in the tall grass and weeds being protected from predators. It is possible that one or two might have been caught by a predator, but I doubt that all would be gone over night. Are there any large snapping turtles in the pond? If so, they could be the predator that you don't see. The snappers will grab hold of a leg and pull the duckling under until it drowns and then have a meal of it. Even then, they will only kill what they can eat, and leave the rest for another day.

 

[RoyJackson]

Oh man, that is seriously sad.

Cliff

That pic of the ducks and grate has been around a long time. I saw it at least 2 years ago...
Anyway, the follow up was the duckling were rescued. Of course, I read this on the internet...

 

[Thomas]

All 11 are gone in such short time,sounds like owl,four legged,turtle been around. ...but sometime a mother mallard if there's enough time might try for another hatching.

 

[mjarrels]

Peking?

mark