Mama duck is expecting! An urban wildlife odyssey

[Moriarty]

At my job, the employees pull around to the back of the building to park, then enter the office through a locked back door. Next to that door is shrubbery, and across the way is a little pond that abuts a neighborhood.

Nestled amongst those bushes is a nest of duck eggs. Mama duck is usually sitting on them, but she does occasionally leave to run her errands. There are other ducks that occasionally stop by, but this is definitely her thing.

Sometimes, an egg gets rolled out of the nest, and ends up on our doorstep. I’m guessing these are duds.

In fact, she’s recently moved off the nest she had built, and sits off to the side. I see a handful of eggs still in the nest, but a coworker told me that she (the duck, not the coworker) was sitting on some eggs in that new location. So we suspect she abandoned the additional eggs that were not viable and is trying to preserve the remainder.

It’s been about a month, which would appear to be about the length of time for gestation. Another duck was hanging out the other day, and I joked that it looked like it was pacing as if in a waiting room. But it was smaller, and presumably female.

Mama duck seems stressed right now. I feel for her. Last time I was in the grocery store, I looked, but there was no duck food in the pet aisle. The closest thing was bird seed. There was certainly no “expectant mother, but a duck” food.

I mean, other than food (and said coworker pointed out that we’d need to put it away from our door - gross poop), what do you get a new mom duck? I don’t think she’d even appreciate a balloon. But I feel like I should do something.

Anyway, I’m just really looking forward to a bunch of baby ducks. Especially when they walk in a row (somebody in the office - a different coworker - had said they want to shake one of the eggs to see if it was an actual dud, and I warned them that we might see one of the ducklings only able to walk in circles).

It definitely makes me wonder how much Mama Duck is able to conceptualize what is happening. I’m somebody who thinks that humans are arrogant in expecting that we alone have thoughts and feelings, and I believe that she probably feels grief when she loses an egg. At least, I think she looks worried.

I can’t wait to see her proudly leading her kids. I tell her she’s doing a good job. It’s not easy raising a family these days, so we all need a little encouragement on occasion.

[Digital_is_the_new_Analog]

I’m a happy host for some baby doves at my house. I noticed the mother sitting in a hanging planter by the front door at the beginning of March. They babies hatched a few days later, and I was able to watch them grow and develop. The mother would leave for increasing periods of time, and I also described it as her running errands

They left the nest about a week ago. Just yesterday, I noticed the kids were hanging out under a hedge next to the house. It’s not clear yet if they are in the “left the nest but can’t fly well” phase still, or if they’ve just decided it’s a good place to look for food.

Nature is cool.

[Dung_Beetle]

Re duck food: Feed ducks cracked corn, oats, rice, birdseed, frozen peas, chopped lettuce, or sliced grapes .
Or some duck chow: https://www.chewy.com/browns-bird-lovers-blend-duck-goose/dp/186040?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12685591164&utm_content=Brown's&utm_term=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9u3hkbLc9gIV3v3jBx3omwAaEAQYASABEgKa1fD_BwE

Good luck!

[Jackmannii]

Ducks’ parenting skills are suspect, based on my observations.

Some years back, I spied a mama duck sitting on a nest up against one of the hospital buildings. It was slightly concealed by plantings in a strip about two feet wide that adjoined a sidewalk. I tried to walk softly and give it as wide a berth as possible when going by, but one day the duck was gone and a couple of eggs were left behind.

It must have been nerve-wracking, nesting in a trafficked area and pretending not to be seen.

@Dung_Beetle

Re duck food: Feed ducks cracked corn, oats, rice, birdseed, frozen peas, chopped lettuce, or sliced grapes .
Or some duck chow:

It would also be thoughtful to provide a laptop, so Mama can do Internet searches on child-rearing using Duck Duck Go.

[cochrane]

@Dung_Beetle

Re duck food: Feed ducks cracked corn, oats, rice, birdseed, frozen peas, chopped lettuce, or sliced grapes .

A duck walks into a bar and asks the bartender, “Ya got any grapes?”

[wolfpup]

@Jackmannii

It would also be thoughtful to provide a laptop, so Mama can do Internet searches on child-rearing using Duck Duck Go.

Which would turn up child-rearing tips like this:

Raising Ducks: Caring for Ducklings

[thorny_locust]

@Moriarty

we suspect she abandoned the additional eggs that were not viable and is trying to preserve the remainder. [. . . ]

Another duck was hanging out the other day, and I joked that it looked like it was pacing as if in a waiting room. But it was smaller, and presumably female.

They might be a same-sex couple; in which case the eggs aren’t going to hatch, at least unless there’s also a male involved.

It’s known to happen sometimes with birds.

[carnivorousplant]

As I recall, my Grandfather fed them cracked corn. A black snake lived in the little corn storage box to keep rodents away.

[nearwildheaven]

I live by a creek that has ducks, and occasionally geese. Ducklings are a staple of springtime and early summer. Can’t wait!