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Wood Duck on the Patio (1 Viewer)

gjfernandes

gjfernandes

Well-known member
I had previously reported on a Wood Duck nesting in a pot of Pampas Grass on the balcony of our apartment on the 7th floor of a high rise in Dallas, TX. We were concerned about what would happen to the hatchlings when they leave the nest over 30 meters above a concrete patio below.

After considerable research and talking to numerous people, as well as advice from the members of birforum, I've come down to two options. 1. Leave everything alone and let nature take it's course, and 2. Wait until the mother leaves to feed and remove the eggs (carefully) and take them to a local volunteer of a bird rehabilitation organization that has an incubator and the skills to nurture the hatchlings.

I'm inclined towards the 2nd option, but I'm worried about the effect on the mother, and whether the eggs can actually be hatched safely in a captive environment and then transitioned to their normal environment.

I need to make a decision soon as the mother has been nesting for at least three weeks. Any thoughts?
 
Tough one. I don't know what the chances are of the ducklings surviving a jump of almost 100 ft over concrete-- according to BNA on-line (http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/169/articles/breeding), the maximum height above ground of 375 Wood Duck nesting cavities was only 17.3 meters, so maybe not very good.

Perhaps you should simply destroy the clutch before the eggs hatch? Alternatively, you could pad the patio with something to cushion the fall & hope for the best The incubator solution strikes me as a real non-starter--I mean, what are you going to do with the ducklings?
 
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My opinion (FWIW)....option 1
Granted, if any survive to the point of jumping 7 stories, what they fall on to will be the big question. If only 1 survives out of the clutch will it be 'worth it' for the bird?
You betcha. What else matters?
 
Thanks for all of the input.

If my research is right the weight of a hatchling is about 32 grams (1 ounce give or take). I thought of trying to figure out the terminal velocity to help calculate the chances of survival. After using up 2 #2 pencils and a major headache, I determined that terminal velocity calculations were out of my league. In any case, they will be little fuzz balls and that would screw up the calculations because of the drag coefficient. My best guess is that they may survive the fall if the wind doesn't blow them back into the building.

Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of duck eggs being hatched in captivity without a mother to nurture
 
just leave them, or if you are still too worried, maybe put something underneath the tree to soften the blow. Wood ducks and other species are specially adapted to breed under such conditions. It'll be fine.
 
gjfernandes said:
Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of duck eggs being hatched in captivity without a mother to nurture
Click to expand...

I haven't had any experience with incubating duck (or any other kind of) eggs, but I wouldn't have thought incubator raised ducklings would require much "nurturing". They're highly precocial after all-& are capable of feeding themselves right out of the egg while such maternal functions as temperature maintenance (brooding) & protection from predators shouldn't be much of a problem under captive conditions either. Imprinting on humans or some other inappropriate model could be a difficulty, I suppose, if there are no adult Wood Ducks around. And, of course, there's always the possibility of infectious disease. But, I guess a competent rehabilitator will know how to deal with this kind of stuff.

However, assuming all goes well, I'm still curious what you intend to do with the ducklings? Raise them to adulthood & then reintroduce them to the "wild"? (local duck pond?). As I said before, if it were me, rather than risk having the ducklings hurt themselves in the jump from the nest, I'd seriously consider destroying the eggs. They're just eggs after all--not baby birds--& I'm sure the mother would get over their loss easily enough & maybe even lay another clutch later in then season in a more sensible place.

Just random thoughts on my part. Whatever you decide to do, good luck with it..
 
Here's another vote for letting nature take its course.

The very light, puff-ball ducklings will reach terminal velocity in the first few meters of the drop -- so it wouldn't matter if you on the 70th floor, they would land just as softly. Concrete might be a bit tough, but it seems likely the best chance for the ducklings.

And if it doesn't go, it's just natural selection at work -- maybe Mrs. Wood Duck is missing a few genes for cleverness. And if it does work, then perhaps the opposite is true, she is a clever one!
 
djleahy said:
The very light, puff-ball ducklings will reach terminal velocity in the first few meters of the drop -- so it wouldn't matter if you on the 70th floor, they would land just as softly. Concrete might be a bit tough, but it seems likely the best chance for the ducklings.
Click to expand...

They look like puffballs, I know, but are they really that light? I think of ducklings as rather sturdy little fellows. Just asking--I've never handled a duckling & don't have much of an idea of their weight.
 
I feel inclined to leave things alone but do wonder if you couldn't *duckproof* the balcony enough to stop them jumping off and just pick them all up and carry them down when they are ready to go.
 
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