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The Institute's biologists have searched for ways to efficiently and accurately answer critical questions about the mallard life cycle.
Pages in this Article
- Return of the Live Decoy
- In Tune With Ducks
- The Chain Gang
Anatomy of the Research Project 
After an Article by Chris Dorsey
The Institute's biologists have searched for ways to efficiently and accurately answer critical questions about the mallard life cycle. The following descriptions provide an inside look at how researchers are gaining new insights in duck production across Canada.
Return of the Live Decoy
A pair of breeding mallards will vigorously defend a wetland against other ducks. Once a pair has taken up residence on a pond, they will attempt to drive off any other mallards that move into their territory. Biologists, knowing the mallards' territorial tendency, developed the decoy trap where a farm-raised hen mallard is placed in a wire cage into which a duck can enter but from which it cannot escape. The decoy hen is normally detected quickly and the resident wild mallards attempt to rid the pond of the intruder. In so doing, the wild ducks become captives themselves, providing biologists with the needed study subjects.
Decoy Trapping
When mallards return to their nesting grounds, Assessment researchers take advantage of a behavioral trait to capture the sample of females required to complete study objectives. Mallard pairs are very territorial - excluding all other mallards from the pond(s) they choose as their "territory". Assessment researchers capture mallards by placing a circular wire trap containing a captive-raised, female mallard (decoy) in the center of a resident pair's territory. As the resident birds attempt to drive off this 'intruder", they are caught.
Page 2 In Tune With Ducks >>
