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It is a mystery to me why female ducks sit atop pilings in the early morning at the beginning of the breeding season. They don’t do this at other times. I have been watching female mallards do this for a number of weeks this year. But, the behaviour is not confined to mallards. Other years I have seen mergansers and goldeneyes also perch atop pilings, all of them females.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These females do not seem to be seeking a mate. Most have already paired off. Indeed, the mate is often on the water below, and after a while on the piling, she flies down and joins him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Has this behaviour evolved? There have only been pilings on this lake for less than a century and a half. If, as is likely, the behaviour is ancient, what previous structure has been supplanted by the convenience of wooden pilings? (Ducks cannot perch on the conically topped metal pilings.)<\/p>\n
Who knows the purpose of this behaviour?<\/p>\n
Now is the brief season of female mallards perching atop pilings.
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It is a mystery to me why female ducks sit atop pilings in the early morning at the beginning of the breeding season. They don’t do this at other times. I have been watching female mallards do this for … Continue reading