Subject: Merganser broods
Date: Jun 26 16:08:55 2003
From: Kelly Mcallister - mcallkrm at dfw.wa.gov


I remember a Wood Duck incubating 22 eggs in a nest box on Fort Lewis in 1979 when I was
involved in an experiment for Sievert Rowher's ornithology class at U.W. to try to determine
if Wood Ducks were determinant or indeterminant for clutch size. Our experiment, which involved
egg removals during the laying period, was complicated by the "dumping" practice of some Wood
Ducks, whereby they laid eggs that were eventually incubated by a presumably unrelated female.

Kelly McAllister
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Olympia, Washington
Reply to: mcallkrm at dfw.wa.gov