Many assume that coyotes are public enemy No. Although skunks are primarily an upland nest predator, Delta research has documented that they will occasionally get their feet wet and go after an over-water duck nest as well. Skunks feed most heavily on duck eggs in early spring when food alternatives are scarce. Like raccoons, skunks are foraging animals that delight in encounters with duck nests and occasionally eat ducklings, too. Notably, raccoons are not native to all of the prairie pothole region, and ducks didn’t have to contend with them in prairie Canada until about the 1950s. They’ll eat ducklings, too, although their consumption of eggs is far more detrimental to the fall flight. And happen upon them they do, in their travels along prairie wetland edges, farmland ditches and other places breeding ducks nest. Raccoons generally don’t actively search for duck nests, but they’re happy to eat most or all of a clutch when they happen upon one. Here’s a look at the key predators that impact waterfowl production. And you can imagine the vulnerability of duck eggs to plundering, given their immobility and tasty, nutrient-rich yolks. The threats are even broader for ducklings, which are consumed by practically anything large enough to complete the task, from bullfrogs to herons.
When it comes to food-chain hierarchy, ducks are the rabbits of the avian world - essentially every critter with forward-facing eyes wants a bite of them.
Delta Waterfowl is on a mission to fill every flyway.
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