Disappearing Mallard eggs

topshaw · #1 (**permalink**) 07-06-2010, 05:14 PM

Some advice please we have a large pond in our garden where a pair of Moorhens and several pairs of Mallards live and nest. The moorhens are always sucessful in rearing two familys a year, however the Mallards have a lot of problems. Over the weekend the Mallard nest on the island was cleaned out approx 15 eggs disappeared from the nest no shell or anything just an empty nest and no access from land would be a 20 feet swim for something and water deep. Any idea what would have done this also had similar problems earlier in the year when a pair of Barnacle Geesse nested and all the eggs disappeared.

mrbright · #2 (**permalink**) 07-06-2010, 06:20 PM

hi, i can't vouch for this, but my sister-in-law in wales, swears she saw a crow steal one of her duck egg by stabbing it with his beak and flying off with it. crazy i know, but she is a teetotaller. its probably one of many egg stealers in nature, but it certainly sounds the most outrageous. i am sure you will have a few more theorists along shortly.

gecko · #3 (**permalink**) 07-06-2010, 10:48 PM

Crows will often take eggs, and especially from birds which nest on the ground / in the open. I have seen a crow family take more than 30 eggs from a ground nesting bird colony in a morning.

witham · #4 (**permalink**) 08-06-2010, 07:24 AM

I agree it could be a crow we keep Banties and we've caught one coming out of our chicken hut with an egg in its beak more than once, I also saw a family of Jackdaws empty a Blackbirds nest in a few seconds before I could shoo them off

topshaw · #5 (**permalink**) 08-06-2010, 11:44 AM

Thanks for the response I have to say my first thought was crows but I expected to see some residual egg shell as i thought a Mallard egg would be too big for a crows mouth. Also the island has two feet height of cover but I guess if one was bold enough to go into a chicken coop that will not put it off. Any other suggestions gratfully recieved.