We have a female mallard who made a nest in a tree branch about 12 feet up the air. She has been sitting on the nest for about a week, and we are worried about what will happen to the chicks when they do hatch, which will be in about 3 weeks, according to other messages I read on your site.
Has anyone heard of this before? Any ideas on what, if anything, we should do once the chicks hatch?
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Leave them alone.
They will be just fine.
When they are ready to leave the nest if you are lucky enough to be around you will see them fly for the 1st time.
Jeff
I've never heard of a mallard to nest in a tree but I'm sure theres a reason for why she did that. Its just the wood ducks that nest in old woodpeckers nests and natural cracks and hole that they find and the wood hen makes sure she can fit with her clutch. But when the ducklings hatch what will happen is when they a srong enough to walk and move around good they will just walk out the nest and free fall to the ground and the hen will gather them up and lead them to water for their protection. But don't worry about when they fall they will not get hurt trust me, their little bodies are like rubber balls. Just make sure there is no cats around. Have fun watching and God Bless.
Many species nest in trees in the Boreal forest.
Just watch a few nature shows, Golden Eyes and more. I have seen many mallards nesting in trees over the years along the Mississippi River where I catfish.
There is a Mallard nesting in a square clay planter at the end of my pier. It's a one foot drop from the nest to the pier, then another three to five feet drop to the water, depending on the tide. If the duckinglys exit the nest from the east or north, they will land on the pier. But if they exit south or west they will end up in the creek.
Any ideas if the hen will lead them from the nest directly to the creek, or follow the pier back to land, then to the water?