Presumably she is consuming the eggs shells to regain all of the precious calcium she used to produce the eggs. I watched as she vigorously consumed the shells often inadvertently shaking the baby duck out of its shell. Taking ten to fifteen minutes each, the mother slowly eats about half the shell off the first hatchlings. The baby duck is now just hours away from joining the world.Īs soon as several of the eggs pip, my mother woodie starts to poke her bill into the openings in the eggs and literally bites off sections of the egg shell. Using a pointed projection or knob on the tip of their upper bill, called an egg tooth, the baby woodie slowly scrapes a tiny hole in egg shell. When it’s hatching time the young ducks nearly fill the space within the egg. Slowly the baby woodies develop within the confines of the egg. Let me tell you it’s a real challenge for the resident mother Wood Duck to incubate this mountain of eggs.įor a month the mother Woodie sits on her pile of eggs transferring her body heat to the developing eggs. In addition, several Wood Duck mothers will also lay their eggs in the nest along with the Hooded Mergansers resulting in a nest box consisting of 20 to 30 eggs from several Wood Duck and Hooded Merganser mothers. The mergansers eggs look very similar to the Wood Ducks. This year I watched several Hooded Merganser mothers enter my Wood Duck nest boxes and lay eggs. Not only do Wood Ducks use cavities to nest but so do Hooded Merganser. I find endless hours of discovery and education. Just before the last egg is laid, she will meticulously pluck the soft down feathers from her breast to line the nest to help keep her eggs warm.įor many years I have installed a micro camera into several Wood Duck nests and have watched the miracle of hatching first hand. Here is where she will lay her eggs, one egg a day, for up to ten days before she settles in to incubate. However they also use wooden man-made nest boxes. The mother Wood Duck searches out a natural cavity with an entrance that is often so small she can barely squeeze in. Truth is, they have sharp nails that help them grip the bark. They just don’t look like they belong up there with their large floppy web feet desperately clinging to the branches. I must admit it’s makes me laugh when I see a pair of Wood Duck’s landing 50 or 60 feet up in a large oak or maple tree and walk around the branches. To start, they are a duck that nests in the trees. Just about everything about their reproduction is amazing. I am continually amazed when I see these miracles occur. As a wildlife photographer I am privilege to witness first hand the awaking of spring and the miracle of birth of many tiny birds and fuzzy animals. Spring is an amazing time of year filled with all the hope and promise of life in the natural world.
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