canberrabirds

Strange Wood Duck behaviour

To: Canberra Birds <>
Subject: Strange Wood Duck behaviour
From: "calyptorhynchus ." <>
Date: Sat, 9 Jul 2016 02:25:55 +0000
Walking on Red Hill this morning I saw a pair of Wood Duck fly down from a tall tree on a ridge towards the Federal Gold Course and the female appeared to be holding a medium-sized white egg in her beak.

Wood Duck do nest in tree hollows up on that ridge and then migrate their duckings down to the ponds on the golf course.

What was going on, the egg was the right size for a Wood Duck egg, but many other spp have medium sized white eggs. Was the pair refurbishing a hollow and removing an unhatched egg from the previous occupants (Wood Duck or otherwise)? but if so why fly a distance with it, why not just toss it out?

Has anyone seen anything like this before?

--
John Leonard

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