Yay, merganser!
West nest: If you’ve been watching the cameras you’ve seen the hooded merganser in the west nest box all night and most of the day. She has definitely claimed that nest! We will have a good close up, side-view of that family when they hatch. She has 8 merganser eggs and 8 wood duck eggs.
This is the first time a merganser has used this nest box; previously that has happened only in the south nest. When I checked the eggs on Sunday evening they were cool even though she had spent the night, but now that she’s been there 22 hours per day for a couple of days that counts as the start of incubation. Going out 30 days from 2 days ago, they’ll hatch somewhere around June 4th but see just below about the accuracy of that guess.
East nest: The wood duck in the East nest box continues to incubate with an estimated hatching day of May 18th. I’ve misstated the egg count there are couple of times in previous posts. She has 12 wood duck eggs and 2 hooded merganser eggs.
Incubation time: Both mergansers and wood ducks have the same incubation time, which is why it works when they create mixed duckling families as is the case in both nest boxes this year. Incubation can be as short as 28 days and as long as 35, so there’s plenty of room for variation.
Outside camera: I have reactivated the outside camera that shows the East nest box and the creek. A couple of people said they liked it, so it’s on again.
Cameras: Go to my web site, birdsgv.com, and touch/click the “Live Cameras” button.
South nest: still has just one or two very short visits on most days. It may not be used this year.
Hatching and Jump day: As you’ll know if you’ve watched here in other springtimes I can provide a much better short term forecast of when they will hatch and jump. As the estimated hatching date approaches I try to always catch the time when the duck is away for a while (getting food for herself) so that I can open the nest box. When the eggs are pipped (slightly broken) they will hatch about 24 hours after that. Then the ducklings spend one night in the nest box and they leave (forever) by jumping out of the nest the morning after hatching. People sometimes ask if it bothers the duck when I open the nest box and pick up or even remove the eggs to count them or check them: No, it doesn’t. Other ducks come in sometimes and move the eggs around (a lot sometimes) when the nesting duck is away, so that is normal. Ducks neither have much sense of smell nor do they use that to detect disturbances. So as long as the duck is away when I do it they don’t know I’ve done anything.
I wonder how it works that the offspring of another species of duck sees its “mom”. presumably imprinting on her, but when grown up choses a mate of its own species. I thought imprinting happened at birth/hatching.
An interesting question. They do imprint on the parent duck even if she is the other species, and they then stay with her for about two months. Both mom and ducklings think she is their mother and caretaker. Ducks will even imprint on and follow a human if that is who cares for them when they hatch. But they do know “who they are” as adults. That part is built in differently.
Even as ducklings they have different behaviors. Wood duck ducklings eat by dabbling on the surface whereas merganser ducklings do much of their eating by diving. If something scares them the wood ducks run to shelter across the water surface whereas merganser ducklings dive and swim underwater. As adults they instinctively know what species they are and behave accordingly.
Excellent news! I will be looking in on your cameras. Love it.
Please let me know what camera you use. I am on my 2nd one that has quit 2 weeks into incubation of eggs. I am so very upset! Been using Green Backyard wireless bird box camera.
For pictures and information about my cameras please see my web site, birdsgv.com Scroll down to the “Ducks Info” button, use that, and then in the heading of the page that appears use the “Cameras” link to scroll the information page down to that section.