Surprise Duckies!

[yourlibrarian]

I was heading out on an errand and came to a halt when I saw the following family making their way past our mailboxes. What caught my attention were the yellow babies since normally all the mallard ducklings are brown and yellow.





To my alarm the mother walked right out in the road as some cars were coming. However the babies crossed safely.

When I returned about half an hour later I kept an eye out for them. I spotted them sitting under a tree by the fence separating us from the (usually) cornfield next door.

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

It could be -- the odd thing is that I've never seen any ducks but mallards near us. Though obviously that doesn't mean there aren't any, but we've been here for some time without spotting any.

Yeah, unfortunately most don't. We've seen bunches of broods and then a week later there's 3 or 4 and then sometimes just one still with the mother. Between predators, people, and maybe even fish, they're often gone quickly :(

[pameladean]

Many domestic ducks are descended from mallards, so maybe mallards occasionally have yellow babies. I don't have time to do good research, but a very quick glance over various websites suggests that this is the case. I was carried away by the romance of a wild mallard raising domestic ducklings. 8-)

As for the attrition, I've seen the same on repeated visits to state parks where ducks are raising their young, just fewer and fewer as time goes by. I guess that's why they lay so many eggs. But the whole "fuzzy babies should LIVE" feeling is very strong.

P.

[yourlibrarian]

That's really interesting, I didn't realize they were an ur-breed of duck!
I guess it could be a genetic variation then.

Yes, definitely, especially since ducklings are a form of baby that is incredibly active within hours of birth. The speed at which they can run and paddle is amazing.

[cyprinella]

Pretty much all domestic ducks are mallards except for muscovies, which are a species from South America.