Duckling Watch - any time, any place

Despite being the UK's most common duck, there is still a lot we don’t know about mallards. Improving our understanding of mallard ecology, from their preferred habitats and breeding success to their migration patterns, is important to ensure we effectively conserve this species. One gap in our knowledge of mallard ecology is the survival rate of their ducklings – this is the proportion of ducklings that survive to adulthood. This has not been directly studied in the UK but is key to understanding what drives changes in mallard populations.

Goals

In this project, we are hoping members of the public across the UK can help us collect vital data which will allow us to calculate mallard duckling survival rates. We are particularly interested in repeat counts of individual broods as this especially valuable information on the proportion of ducklings which survive per brood.

Tasks

In Duckling Watch, we invite anyone in the UK to submit their sightings of mallard ducklings, with some information about the brood including the location, date, number of ducklings and approximate age of the brood. If you have questions about how to submit sightings or the project as a whole, please contact ducks@essex.ac.uk or use the project forum.

This task can be completed anywhere in the UK during mallard duckling season. Ignore the address, date and time listed.