Family of Ducks
The ducklings in the pond by my hotel are adorable little balls of down. They've been growing up quickly in the weeks I've been traveling here, under the watchful eyes of their parents. Or rather parent, for I'd been noticing, without really thinking about it, that the Daddy in this small family seemed permanently absent. I was scanning the reeds for him, looking for that classic green head and yellow beak of a Mallard, when my eyes passed over the ducklings, their mother, and then another female duck.
Two Mommies? Was this small family of mid-western ducks defying the status quo? Had they tossed aside thousands of years of monogamous male-female life-pairings, the very cornerstone of duck mating? The implications were staggering. What happened to the father of the clutch? And how had the other lone female arrived on this remote pond to help hatch and raise the ducklings?
In my surprise and speculation, I leapt clear past the logical explanation. The Mallard has a close-cousin in the duck world: an Eastern North American bird called a Black Duck, whose plumage in both sexes nearly matches the female Mallard. It's an easy mistake to make, and indeed more then one Mallard has made that same mistake; urban parks are filled with hybrid ducks. Dad had been under my nose, protectively guarding his ducklings the whole time.
10-13 July 2006
Detroit Metropolitan Area
Red-tailed Hawk : J
Black Duck : M/F with ducklings (check name)
Great Egrett
European Starling
House Sparrow : M/F
Feral Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Crow
Northern Mockingbird
9 Bird Trip
17-20 July 2006
Detroit Metropolitan Area
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Purple Martin (confirm range)
Barn Swallow : A/J
American Black Duck : M/F with ducklings
American Robin
European Starling
House Sparrow : M/F
Feral Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Crow
Northern Mockingbird
Great Blue Heron
Ring-billed Gull
Great Egrett
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Incidentally: bats
16 Bird Trip
Two Mommies? Was this small family of mid-western ducks defying the status quo? Had they tossed aside thousands of years of monogamous male-female life-pairings, the very cornerstone of duck mating? The implications were staggering. What happened to the father of the clutch? And how had the other lone female arrived on this remote pond to help hatch and raise the ducklings?
In my surprise and speculation, I leapt clear past the logical explanation. The Mallard has a close-cousin in the duck world: an Eastern North American bird called a Black Duck, whose plumage in both sexes nearly matches the female Mallard. It's an easy mistake to make, and indeed more then one Mallard has made that same mistake; urban parks are filled with hybrid ducks. Dad had been under my nose, protectively guarding his ducklings the whole time.
10-13 July 2006
Detroit Metropolitan Area
Red-tailed Hawk : J
Black Duck : M/F with ducklings (check name)
Great Egrett
European Starling
House Sparrow : M/F
Feral Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Crow
Northern Mockingbird
9 Bird Trip
17-20 July 2006
Detroit Metropolitan Area
Turkey Vulture
Red-tailed Hawk
Purple Martin (confirm range)
Barn Swallow : A/J
American Black Duck : M/F with ducklings
American Robin
European Starling
House Sparrow : M/F
Feral Pigeon
Mourning Dove
American Crow
Northern Mockingbird
Great Blue Heron
Ring-billed Gull
Great Egrett
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Incidentally: bats
16 Bird Trip