Ducks in trees

By guest contributor GL

A sunny week at the start of August and the ducks get busy. Among the earliest breeders, Wood Ducks and Black Ducks are landing in all kinds of trees looking for a home. Wood Ducks make a strange churring sound when they’re perched in trees seeking a hollow.

The Australian Wood Duck, Chenonetta jubata, used to be called the Maned Duck or, erroneously, Maned Goose and the image below of an adult breeding male shows his mane and undeniable beautiful markings.

The sunny week at the start of August heralded a different season for some aboriginal groups. I think we should acknowledge the season has turned – the wattles are blooming, the birds are courting, the trees are budding. Someone suggested we have Winter (June-July), Spring (October- November) and in between: Sprinter (August-September)!

Wood Ducks often have large broods and when the ducklings are active little fluff-balls they get pushed out of the hollow, falling quite a few metres. They don’t seem to hurt themselves – they only weigh a few grams and the fluff would slow their fall.

Come late August and September, we will see pairs of wood ducks escorting ducklings around the paddocks – they graze on grasses and herbs and sometimes insects. We often see wood ducks with massive broods, like the above image with a brood of 20. This is probably because (like emus) successful parents attract the ducklings of less effective parents into a nursery.

Humans do that also to some extent through the foster care system. But I don’t know anyone who is raising 20 children at a time!

Thanks Geoff.