Subject: Re: Ducks behavior
Date: Jan 23 14:37:11 1996
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at ups.edu


Leslie Schweitzer wrote:

>I seem to recall him saying that not only do Mallards have courtship
>behavior but they have some downright unsavory (from the human perspective)
>courtship behaviors (e.g. apparent 'rape') as well.

If rape can be defined as "forced copulation," it seems to be fairly common
in ducks, especially Mallards. Any unmated female duck in spring is
subject to it, especially from unmated males but also from mated ones.
Most female ducks can avoid forced copulation, but some seem to succumb to
the constant pressure of the larger and very determined bird. Females have
been drowned when several males one after another force them underwater (a
common consequence of copulation). In some cases the copulation may not
even be effective, but the males are unrelenting in attempting to transmit
their genes to the next generation.

I'm glad you added "from the human perspective" to "unsavory," as there's
no real value judgment to be made about this phenomenon in Mallards.

And Peggi Rodgers, who described the process graphically, wrote:

>At worse, they're drowned or crushed to death.
>Makes you wonder how the species survive so successfully!

Because the vast majority of female Mallards are paired and protected by
their mates.

>I must say, I've never seen anything like the male ducks' sex drive!

I sometimes get the feeling that social interactions are altered or
exacerbated in semidomestic Mallards. For example, even the sex ratio
might be more skewed in the city birds, with fewer females than is usual in
natural populations and thus more competition for them. I don't know.

Dennis Paulson phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416