Q After watching tiny ducklings jump out of a wood duck house, I'm wondering how the mother duck knows when the box is empty.
A You're very fortunate: Few of us have been privileged to see this wonderful sight. The day after her ducklings hatch, the hen wood duck is ready to call them out of the box. She stands outside and gives a special whispery kind of call. The ducklings "peep" in reply and jump up to the box entrance before dropping down to their mother; it may take only five minutes to clear the nest.
"Once they start, it's like popcorn popping," says Kraig Kelsey, who runs a wild bird store in North Oaks. This is a very dangerous time for ducklings, with many predators on the lookout for easy prey, so the mother duck can't wait long. Once there are no more "peep" sounds from inside, she leads her brood away.
Egg-laying rateQ How many eggs does a bird lay in a day?
A Female birds lay only one egg a day, since egg production places great stress on her resources and she needs time to replenish them. Songbirds tend to produce from three to six eggs over three to six days. Eggs are usually laid in the morning, then the female leaves the nest site for long periods. Most songbirds only begin incubating once the last egg in the clutch is laid, to ensure that all hatch at about the same time.
Hope springs eternalQ We've had chickadees robbing the potting soil from a hanging basket. They pick up a piece, fly to a branch and seem to be trying to peck it open. Any thoughts?
A It sounds as if the chickadees are being fooled into thinking those little white pieces of vermiculite are some kind of seed. Even though they're not finding any food inside, they're persistent little birds and keep trying.
Housekeeping mattersQ I've seen bluebirds carrying food into the birdhouse, and then they fly out with something white in their beaks. What is going on?