Do Male Ducks Attack Ducklings?
Male ducks or drakes are well known to show aggressive behavior towards others. But does that aggressiveness affect ducklings as well? you might ask if you are not much familiar with their behavior.
Do male ducks attack ducklings? While not many would dare to harm cute ducklings flocking around their mother, male ducks are known to attack ducklings.
Most of the time, it is due to feeling threatened, but there are other factors that may lead a drake to harm the ducklings. Keep reading if you want to find out why ducklings can make a male duck aggressive and attack them.
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Are Male Ducks Aggressive to Ducklings?
Male ducks can be extremely aggressive to ducklings if they start to see the ducklings as a potential threat that may hamper their regular activities.
Ducklings that aren’t the offspring of the male, mostly face this aggression more. It doesn’t mean drakes won’t attack their own ducklings. After the mating period, male ducks don’t stick around to raise the kids and will seek out another mating partner.
Due to this fact, it can be stated that sometimes, the male ducks can even attack their own sired ducklings. But if they recognize them, they won’t usually be aggressive.
What Are the Reasons Behind Male Ducks Attacking Ducklings?
Male ducks can attack ducklings for the following reasons –
Obstacle for Procreation
The sexual drive of male ducks is quite extreme. If they find any ducklings as an obstacle during their procreation, they will feel threatened and become aggressive.
When a male duck wants to mate with a female, but the female’s ducklings are always surrounding her, then the male may end up attacking the ducklings.
Male ducks think that the ducklings won’t allow them to mate with the female. This makes the ducklings a threat to their procreation.
Establishing their Position
Similar to most other animals’ ducks also follow a hierarchical structure. Male ducks will try to dominate everyone in the group.
When a new member joins, they can show an aggressive mentality. This is true for ducklings who joined the group as well. And this behavior is witnessed when ducklings invade the personal space of the males.
They Think Ducklings Are Invaders
Ducks, especially male ducks, are highly territorial. If someone disrupts the peace of their territory or imbalances the settings like food resources and such, then they will lash out.
Ducklings can also suffer from this territorial mindset of the drakes as the males may think that these new small-sized ducks are invading their territory.
Parental Bond
In some scenarios, if the male duck isn’t the biological parent of the ducklings, then it can start to get aggressive toward them while being passive towards its own offspring.
This protective nature for your genetic offspring is quite common in the animal kingdom.
On the other hand, if there isn’t a proper parent-child bond between the father duck and its offspring, then it may also result in the male being aggressive towards the little ones.
Result of Stress and Discomfort
If, for some reason, the male ducks are suffering from stress or feeling discomfort, they may take it out on the ducklings.
There are a number of factors that may lead to male ducks being stressed or discomforted. It can start from environmental changes, lack of food, or human intervention.
Do Male Ducks Ever Attack Ducklings in the Wild?
In the wild, a male duck’s actions towards ducklings aren’t as hostile as drakes living in a domesticated scenario. There can be multiple reasons for this. The most common ones are –
Survival Instinct
Like every other animal, ducks also want to survive and make sure their legacy lives on.
In the wild, where predators and dangers are lurking everywhere, it is not beneficial for the species’ survival if the male ducks start to attack the ducklings.
Male Ducks Aren’t Around Much
As mentioned earlier, male ducks have a great sex drive and want to mate with as many female ducks as possible. They also leave the females and don’t stick around to take care of the ducklings.
In a wild setting, where there is nothing holding the males to stick together with the female duck it has mated with, ducklings won’t often see male ducks that will threaten them.
Enough Resource and Territory
Male ducks that live in the wild aren’t as easily threatened regarding their territory or social standings.
This is due to the fact that there are enough resources and areas to explore. So, the sudden inclusion of ducklings in the group won’t affect their mood that easily.
Aggressive Towards Predators
Lastly, male ducks in the wild have a better way to use their aggression, and that is by fending off predators that may attack their herd.
For these reasons, ducks in the wild don’t attack their ducklings as much as ducks in a domestic environment would.
That being said, there are always exceptions, and this aggressive behavior solely depends on the male duck in question.
Do All Male Duck Breeds Attack Ducklings?
With all this talk about male ducks attacking the ducklings, you can not but wonder whether all male duck breeds treat the ducklings harshly.
To get straight to the point, usually, male ducks won’t attack ducklings just because it comes from a specific breed.
The aggression of male ducks towards ducklings isn’t specified based on that but rather how the male duck feels about the ducklings.
This trait can be regarded as a common reaction when a male duck is agitated or threatened by the presence of ducklings.
Every species of male duck can attack ducklings, and the opposite is also true. So, in the end, it just comes down to the male duck’s perception of the other being, regardless of species.
That being said, duck species that are known to be calmer than others may show less aggressive behavior to the ducklings.
How Do Female Ducks Protect Their Ducklings from Male Ducks?
You might be wondering, if the male ducks are attacking the ducklings, do the female just sit by and watch?
No, female ducks are very protective of their ducklings and are known to showcase aggression or evasive behavior when a male duck starts attacking their babies.
Female ducks are quite vigilant about their surroundings and will signal their ducklings if a male starts to show aggression. They will lead the ducklings to safety and may even fight back the male duck if necessary.
Is There Any Way to Prevent Male Ducks from Attacking Ducklings?
Certain steps can be taken to ensure that a male duck doesn’t start attacking ducklings.
Separate Male Ducks
As the attacks are usually generated due to the male ducks considering the ducklings a threat, you can separate the male ducks from the ducklings entirely.
Exclusive Breeding Pens
Different breeding pens can be made where the male duck will stay, and no ducklings will be allowed to be in that area.
Slow Introduction
If you want to keep the ducks altogether, then you can slowly introduce the ducklings so that the male duck doesn’t feel threatened and adapts to the changes in the group.
Ultimately, it all comes down to how comfortable a male duck is around the ducklings; if it is not agitated, it won’t attack the ducklings.
Conclusion
Hopefully, this answers all your concerns regarding your question, “Do male ducks attack ducklings or not“.
And if you find your ducklings getting attacked by the male ducks or being fearful of them, then first things first, separate the male ducks from the ducklings and find out why they have started to show aggression.
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Reference:
- https://earthlife.net/do-male-muscovy-ducks-kill-baby-ducks/
- https://audubonportland.org/our-work/rehabilitate-wildlife/having-a-wildlife-problem/urban-mallards/
- https://www.ducks.org/conservation/waterfowl-research-science/parental-care
- https://www.postandcourier.com/moultrie-news/opinion/a-mother-wood-ducks-enthralling-display-to-protect-her-babies/article_4b60456a-de52-5975-961a-dd92ff269956.html
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