9 April 2026
In just three weeks there’s been a dramatic change in the number and mix of mallards seen at Duck Hollow.
In mid-March I reliably saw at least 20 from the parking lot and almost all were in pairs.
At the end of March I watched a female checking out the thickets near this concrete path while her mate watched from the river’s edge. Their paired searching is typical of the female mallard’s nest site selection process so I paused to watch.
The female checked various bushes and walked up the bank (behind this view). Eventually she realized that too many people, including me, use the path so she rejected the spot and rejoined her mate in the river.
There’s a lot more to mallard nest site selection and building than we realize. This information paraphrased from Birds of the World is useful when you’re watching mallard behavior:
- Mallards begin searching for a nest site within a few days of selecting their breeding home range (territory). The search is generally 5–10 days after the first “Persistent Quacking” by the female. (I’ve noticed that no one is quacking now!)
- The female selects the nest site, usually on the ground in an upland area near water. For maximum concealment she places the nest under overhanging cover or in dense vegetation. In urban settings this might be underneath ornamental bushes, in woodpiles, in planters, hidden near docks, etc.
- The pair does their best to make sure the area is safe from predators. “Experimental evidence suggests that mallards and several other dabbling ducks may be able to assess mammalian predator abundance and hence predation risk when selecting a nest-site by detecting (smelling!) these animals’ urine.”
- The female makes the nest by forming a shallow depression or bowl on the ground in moist earth (‘digging the scrape’). She does not carry material to the nest but rather uses what she can reach and pull toward her with bill while sitting on nest.
- During the laying phase, she improves the nest by lining the bowl with vegetation and plant litter from nearby. She also pulls and bends tall vegetation over to conceal herself and nest. After incubation begins, she plucks down from her breast to line the nest and cover the eggs when she takes a break from incubation.
This urban mallard chose a flower box for her nest and was probably surprised so suddenly that she didn’t cover her eggs.
When I stopped by Duck Hollow on Tuesday 7 April there were only 6 mallards present. All but one of the ladies were missing. They are all on hidden nests.
