northeast-flora-and-fauna

While my 1st picture shows a Wood Duck who's probably raising ducklings, the 2nd picture shows a Wood Duck who probably isn't the mother to those turtles.  These 2 pictures are of 2 female Wood Ducks in basically the same location and I found it interesting that 1 of them was surrounded by juvenile Wood Ducks while the other was surrounded by turtles ( probably Painted Turtles ). One thing that could be going on is intraspecific brood parasitism , where 1 duck mom ends up raising the ducklings of other duck moms. Perhaps the 2nd female's ducklings are being raised by the 1st female, and so she has no parental responsibilities and can hang out with her turtle friends instead.  Of course, there are probably dozens of other plausible explanations behind these 2 pictures. I'm just sketching out 1 possibility. June 13, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 300988614, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) June 13, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 300...

I met 1 mother Wood Duck with (at least) 6 ducklings and another that seemed to be alone 1 day last spring. I think it's actually a little easier to photograph the mothers with young than it is to photograph them as adults. As adults they can either fly away or swim into dense vegetation when they see me, but when ducklings are involved the mother is forced to herd/lead them slowly away, since young ducklings don't move all that fast. (FWIW I was almost certainly fairly far away when this picture was taken.) One thing you have to question when you see ducklings is whether they're all the mom's ducklings. Intraspecific brood parasitism happens quite a bit . May 25, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 292818544, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) On that same day, I think I met the proverbial duck out of water . May 25, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 292818929, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

I guess this Wood Duck picture came out good enough that it merits a post. (As always, all the credit goes to the duck; the photographer was doing little more than skulking around along the shore.) I did see other Wood Ducks in the vicinity, but I suspect they heard me and were calmly but determinately vacating the area. (A wildlife photographer quickly learns that most wild animals will least a minimum shun them, and sometimes flee the area while loudly alerting everyone else of your presence.)  May 3, 2023 at Duke Farms Photo 278557757, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's 1 of our more common (though somewhat shy) ducks swimming at the Washington Valley Reservoir. Though a male in eclipse plumage looks similar overall to a female Wood Duck , I'm confident this is a female: The eyes don't look red (which a male should have) but there is a white ring around the eyes (which only a female should have). This picture was taken in the spring [1], when I'd expect a male to look more like this in his full breeding plumage. May 1, 2023 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 278271098, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] If you saw a male Wood Duck on this date, he probably would look a bit like a red-eyed female. One tricky things about some birds (especially males) is having to recognize different plumages.

For Throwback Thursday, I met a Wood Duck mom leaving her house back in 2017, presumably to make a food run. This is the only time I knew for sure that this duck box was occupied, and I was kind of fortunate the duck decided to leave when I was in the area. This box was obviously designed for a Wood Duck to nest in. Though she could get in and out fairly efficiently, a somewhat larger bird probably wouldn't have a chance of getting in. I'm a little torn on the choice of location though. When her ducklings are ready to leave the nest, it's a fairly short drop straight into water. On the other hand, I've certainly seen Common Snapping Turtles in this part of Great Swamp, and although I'm not sure duckling is their favorite food, snapping turtles will prey on waterfowl. And small, immature waterfowl probably makes their hunt especially easy. June 11, 2017 at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Photo 8555584, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

This was the 2nd picture I got this past season of Ring-necked Ducks . (The 1st picture wasn't a good but you can look at it if you want to.) You might be thinking "I don't see any rings on the necks - this must be a misidentification", buf  if you were close enough you would see a ring around the neck (even though it's difficult/impossible to see from a distance). This is certainly one of those instances where the bird got its common name from someone seeing the bird up close, and they almost certainly got that close look because the bird was dead. I was (mildly) victimized by these ducks being named after such a subtle physical trait. Years ago when I saw them, got some pictures, and attempted to identify them, I got to a webpage listing the names of all the ducks in my area. As I went down the list, I skipped right over the link for Ring-necked Ducks because I felt certain there was no ring around their neck. This led me to erroneously believe that the best fi...

Here are a couple more Wood Ducks . The one on the left appears to be a male with its eclipse plumage , which is far more subdued feathering than you're probably used to seeing in Wood Ducks. The one on the right is more likely a female, though immature Wood Ducks of both genders look similar to mature female Wood Ducks. Anthropomorphizing a bit, seeing them look in opposite directions might make it look like they're a couple who had an argument and are trying not to look at each other. It's possible that they're a romantic couple - Wood Ducks are considered monogamous - though there were other Wood Ducks around too, and they don't start to pair off until more like January. I usually feel at least a little bit lucky when I run across Wood Ducks (more so if I'm able to get a good picture), and seeing a Wood Duck has traditionally been associated with good luck. I suspect though that this was because seeing a Wood Duck meant you might be able to hunt it for both f...

A couple days ago I showed a couple Painted Turtles basking above green waters ; today I'm showing Wood Ducks swimming through it. And similar to the Painted Turtle situation, it's at least possible the ducks would eat at least some of the green vegetation.  Though it's difficult for me to know exactly what the vegetation is comprised of, if there's duckweed out there, that's definitely on the Wood Duck menu. Though they'll eat small animals - mainly invertebrates - 80% of their omnivorous diet is comprised of plant material. Still, too much green in the water is usually a sign of fertilizer runoff that's polluting the waterway. This looks like a female (left) and male (right), though the male is without the more flamboyant breeding plumage in this picture. August 30, 2022 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 229848163, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

In late August I encountered a flock of Wood Ducks . (Shadows prevented me getting great pictures.) There were at least 11 of them in one spot. Some of them looked like they were just starting to develop the distinctive plumage of the male Wood Duck; I'm suspicious that most of these were raised together as ducklings. (See here for the complicated makeup of duck broods.) Wood Ducks aren't the smallest ducks around here, but they're one of the most common of the smaller ducks. Though they're here all year round, they can get lost in the mix when large flocks of ducks/geese gather together during the winter. At a high level, your doctor would probably approve of their diet. It's varied, with greens, berries, nuts, and seeds comprising most of it. It's estimated that about 20% of their diet is meat, mostly insects and invertebrates. August 31, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 229849779, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) The ducks in these pictures were close...

Last autumn I spotted this little flock of Wood Ducks swimming by. For reasons I discuss more here , I suspect there are 3 female and 2 eclipse plumage male ducks here. You can tell it's late summer or early autumn by the dense green covering the water, which gets pretty common around here. I suspect there's too much fertilizer runoff that feeds the growth. Though much of it dies off in the winter, it'll be back next summer. I know many ducks will pair off well before breeding season, but since this was even before winter it's possible the ducks were just being social. Lots of birds like to hang out; there are more eyes to spot predators that way. The brambly/bushy vegetation near or in the water also makes Wood Ducks feel more comfortable; they figure they can hide in it if something threatening (like a guy with a camera) comes along. October 7, 2021 at Duke Farms https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Duck/overview

Here are a pair of Wood Ducks . A couple months earlier I would see a female accompanied by several juveniles ; as the summer goes on I see fewer but larger ducks. I wouldn't be surprised if these are 2 of the surviving juveniles from earlier in the season. (It may be too early to distinguish males from females by plumage; juveniles of both sexes resemble adult females.) Though it's possible that other juveniles survived but have dispersed, I'm sure the mortality rate among juvenile ducks is pretty high. Surviving to adulthood for a duck isn't as rare as winning the lottery, but it's no sure thing either. September 8, 2021 at the Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 167829829, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a Wood Duck from early August. Normally this is probably our showiest waterfowl; I suspect this one is in its eclipse plumage . Eclipse plumage is a molting phase where the duck looks drabber and less colorful, and it's pretty important. Because ducks molt their flight feathers all at once, they go through a period when they're grounded, and are unable to fly. Imagine if you're one of the most colorful birds on the pond and you suddenly can't fly - to predators, you'd be a sitting duck! To partially compensate for their temporary lack of aerial ability, these ducks become less conspicuous by donning their eclipse plumage. (Mallards do this too, and during eclipse plumage it's very difficult to tell the male and female Mallards apart.) And then when their flight feathers grow back, they molt off these drab colors and regain their flamboyant good looks again. August 5, 2021 at Duke Farms Photo 148952468, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) ...

Here are a couple of ducks out of water, Wood Ducks specifically. The duck on the right looks slightly larger and has a prominent white eye ring that I'd expect to see in a female Wood Duck. The one on the left is smaller, has generally similar coloring, but lacks the white eye ring, all suggesting that this is a juvenile. As juveniles, the males and females look similar, though if it's a male it'll eventually look like this guy . July 27, 2021 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 148653864, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) You might wonder if they were standing on the log to avoid the icky green water. Though it's difficult to know what the ducks were thinking, if the green was duckweed , it's actually on their menu; they're omnivores that eat vegetarian about 80% of the time. And these other Wood Ducks had no issues with the water. July 27, 2021 at Washington Valley Reservoir Photo 148653891, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's a Wood Duck  and the ducklings she's caring for back in July. The adult is the larger duck on the right. Certainly the ducklings are much closer to their adult size than they were a couple months ago, as this post of another duck family shows. These guys may hang around here for the winter. NJ is an area where Wood Ducks can be seen all year round. Still, if the reservoir freezes, they probably won't be able to feed, and I'd expect them to move to open water (e.g. the Raritan River). Both male and female ducklings look similar, I'm not good enough to differentiate them at this age. Eventually the males will be one of our most colorful waterfowl though. This part of the reservoir is awfully green. (You might have thought the ducks were on a golf course, but they're in water.) Assuming this is mostly duckweed/watermeal (as opposed to algae) this is both good and bad: They're native plants that are high in protein, and a valuable food source for animal...

A mother Wood Duck was paddling around the Washington Valley Reservoir with ducklings about 2 months back. One problem with me blogging a couple months after taking a picture is that the ducklings probably look a lot older today; they might be adult sized by now. Still, ducklings (and goslings) are pretty photogenic. It's doubtful that this duck only hatched 4 eggs this year; my impression is that duckling mortality is pretty high, and this is just her surviving clutch. There was a Great Blue Heron around; I suspect the heron would eat a duckling if one got too close. I suspect that the ducklings are perfectly safe in deeper water though, since herons fish/hunt by wading rather than swimming. On the other hand, the mother duck didn't seem particularly concerned to see the heron in the area, and the heron didn't appear to be giving the ducklings its attention. Still, I'm sure there are life-and-death dramas surrounding the lives of these ducklings. June 11, 2021 at Was...

Here's a mother Wood Duck  with 13 ducklings that I met last month.  It sounds like these could be all her own ducklings, though Wood Duck females will do egg dumping, where some females lay some of her eggs in the nests of other females. This is a form of brood parasitism called intraspecific brood parasitism, and is somewhat common among ducks. Initially this might seem as "immoral" and "lazy" as the brood parasitism performed by birds like the Brown-headed Cowbird , but: This probably doesn't hurt the victim duck's brood much. Ducklings feed themselves, so the true or adopting mom just needs to herd them all to a food source and away from dangers. The adopted ducklings presumably don't mistreat the other ducklings. It doesn't hurt the species at all, since the ducklings are all of the same species. I don't know if Wood Ducks also pick up ducklings from other moms after they hatch like this Common Merganser mom , though it wouldn't sur...

Here's a pair of Wood Ducks I met earlier in the month. I hiked from the Raritan River Greenway into Duke Island Park and was surprised to see this drake and duck hanging out pretty close to me/others. Generally I consider the Wood Duck to be fairly leery of people, and with more secluded places near the Raritan River and the Raritan Power Canal I wouldn't have expected to see them in such a small body of water in the middle of the park. My guess is they were there either because there's more food here than elsewhere, or maybe the female has found a tree cavity (or nesting box) that she's got an eye on for when she lays eggs. April 5, 2021 at Duke Island Park Photo 120291482, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Staying with Wood Ducks , today I'm going to show a pair. Given the time of year, I'm suspicious that breeding is on their minds. They are another example of sexual dimorphism , where the males and females have basically the same size/shape but the plumage of the males is much different from that of the females. A novice could no doubt mistake them for different species. Seeing a prominent white eye ring is very suggestive that you're looking at a female Wood Duck. Apparently the males do have a more subdued plumage that kicks in as summer wanes. I don't think I've gotten a picture of one with that plumage though. March 31, 2021 at Duke Farms Same ducks, different view

Here's probably New Jersey's most flamboyant waterfowl, the Wood Duck . Perhaps the only more flamboyant waterfowl are the Mandarin Ducks , who aren't found in North America and are actually related to the Wood Ducks. Apparently there were fears in the 20th century that these ducks might be driven extinct primarily due to loss of habitat and hunting, though hunting limits and conservation efforts have helped them rebound. Though not as abundant as Mallards, spotting Wood Ducks isn't uncommon. Although maps suggest I'm very close to the line where Wood Ducks are around the entire year, I don't typically see them in winter. This time of the year though they can be spotted fairly frequently, and often in pairs since it's basically their breeding season. March 31, 2021 at Duke Farms