Words4It

It’s difficult recognizing which ducklings go with which hens these days. You can expect a few dull posts as I sort out things. All season I’ve attempted to get a grip on the survival rate of ducklings at the Brighton millpond. This will help me do it.

These two hens appear to share mothering duties occasionally. I’ll find the two ducklings remaining (of five) in Brood 20 (left) bedding down for the night with the one remaining duckling (of two) from Brood 21 (below right). One of the moms stays near them, but the other will be elsewhere hobnobbing with buddies. The two broods were hatched four days apart (July 3 and 7).

The hens must have been friends prior to nesting. They get along better than most hens (below left) and allow their young to intermingle. Hens usually gather their ducklings together and keep them at some distance from other ducks to avoid conflicts with other family groups.

Born on July 7, the lone chick in Brood 21 is well skilled in sticking to the side of its mom. As mom moves around, the duckling stays right where the mom’s tail meets her body (above and below right). That’s surely a survival tactic. It makes the babe less conspicuous – predators think they are seeing one duck instead of two. Mom has one distinctive feature – puffy cheeks (below left). While almost identical hens causes me all sorts of identification problems, the ducks manage to recognize their pals and parents. How do they do that? I yearn for colorful leg bands on all of the pond’s feathered residents.