We live in a town house on Lake Erie, in Buffalo, NY. There is a second floor deck and attached to the deck’s wrought iron railing is a flower box with a hay basket liner. On May 28 we discovered a mallard duck had made a nest in the flower box. She has laid eggs and has been sitting on the eggs since then. She leaves in the early evening, flying towards the lake, and returns to resume her place warming her eggs. We did some research and called our county wildlife association. We were informed to simply leave the nest alone. We read that the ducklings will not be able to fly for 60 days but can swim much sooner and that they will not stay in the nest beyond 24 hours.
Our problem is that this nest is about 5 meters (16 ft.) above the ground and a distance from the water and the nest is not very big.
Should we try to put a small child’s swimming pool below the nest in case the mother can get the ducklings down from the second floor nest? Should we try to get a small pool on the deck itself? We have not gone out on the deck when she is there and have not touched anything.
Any help you can give us is appreciated. The ducklings will probably hatch in a few days. Thank you, Virginia
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Mallard ducklings may not be as well adapted to falling as wood ducks and mergansers, but their small size, fuzzy coating of feathers, and functional, if tiny, wings means they don’t fall as fast or land as hard as you might think. When there is a bed of leaves or vegetation under them, they’re almost always just fine.
However, it looks like your future ducklings will be landing on asphalt, so that might be a problem. If you could put down something to soften the landing — an air mattress or even a couple of old blankets or towels beneath where you think they might fall, that would help. They launch themselves somewhat, so the landing zone might be several feet out from the balcony.
Once they land on the ground, mom will take over. You don’t need to feed them or give them water. They will march off to a suitable body of water. Mallard ducklings are able to feed themselves, so all they need is for mom to lead them to the right place. If you put a swimming pool out for them, you might just distract them, and since there won’t be any food for them in a kiddie pool, they’ll go hungry.
Let me know how it goes. I know you said you discovered the nest on May 28, but do you know when the last egg was laid? Mallards hatch in 23-30 days, with an average of 28 days. Tom
The other possibility would be to sneak in when she’s off the nest and “candle” an egg. You can shine a strong flashlight through it. Unfertilized eggs will be translucent, just like a store bought chicken egg. An egg with a growing chick will be dark, nearly solid looking, especially now when if the eggs are good at all, the chicks must be close to hatching.
Don’t worry about getting your smell on the eggs. I don’t think that matters much. You could also use disposable gloves if you’re worried about that. Tom