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Our feeding station is visited daily by Black Ducks and Mallards. A female Black Duck appeared a month ago with eleven young. A day later, she had eight; and a few days after that, three. Then she vanished for a couple of days, and returned with eight ducklings, three of which were noticeably larger than the others. The bigger three must each weigh twice one of the smaller set. Although she is not tagged or otherwise identifiable as the same mother, it looks very much that she acquired a new brood of ducklings to supplement the survivors from the first brood. The ducklings of different sizes coexist, with no squabbling or pecking, and are obviously following the same female. Does this sound reasonable? Can a female Black Duck tend a clutch of eggs while leading about the young ones from an earlier hatching? Paul Boyer, Seabright
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