Ducklings bring a little bit of spring to park
We might still be in autumn but spring is in the air in New Plymouth, with a brood of nine ducklings spotted at the city’s Pukekura Park.
The black and yellow bundles of downy softness have been proving a hit on the main lake, where mum and dad mallard are keeping a close eye on their offspring.
Despite spring being the traditional time for duckling spotting at the park, Taranaki Fish & Game Council field officer Allen Stancliff said a mid-autumn brood was not unknown. ‘‘But they are usually few and far between.’’
Mallard ducks, as it turns out, have an extended breeding season, usually sitting on eggs in July, with the number of newly hatched broods reaching a peak in spring.
‘‘Mallard hens will often re-nest if they lose all their brood, and research by Fish & Game has found that some experienced hens will raise a successful brood and then re-nest and raise a second if conditions are favourable,’’ Stancliff said.
Taranaki has been experiencing a relatively mild autumn so far. Stancliff said Fish & Game had also received reports of a mallard hen with eight ducklings along Mangaotuku Stream last month.
Being born outside the breeding season is possible if conditions are suitable, and the ducklings’ chances of survival are normal as long as there is enough food, and if pests, such as cats, stay away.
Pukekura Park is also known for its duckling-eating eels, and larger broods are usually reduced by half or more within a matter of weeks.
Asked if the ducklings had been born either early or late, Stancliff said there was no definite answer. ‘‘That is a good question – take your pick.’’