Incubation Length Of Dabbling Ducks

We collected unincubated eggs from wild Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Gadwall (A. strepera), Blue-winged Teal (A. discors), and Northern Shoveler (A. clypeata) nests and artificially incubated them at 37.5 degree C. Average incubation lengths of Mallard, Gadwall, and Northern Shoveler eggs did not d...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Condor (Los Angeles, Calif.) Calif.), 2005-11, Vol.107 (4), p.926-929
Main Authors: Wells-Berlin, A M, Prince, H H, Arnold, T W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anas clypeata
Anas discors
Anas platyrhynchos
Anas strepera
Strepera
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We collected unincubated eggs from wild Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Gadwall (A. strepera), Blue-winged Teal (A. discors), and Northern Shoveler (A. clypeata) nests and artificially incubated them at 37.5 degree C. Average incubation lengths of Mallard, Gadwall, and Northern Shoveler eggs did not differ from their wild-nesting counterparts, but artificially incubated Blue-winged Teal eggs required an additional 1.7 days to hatch, suggesting that wild-nesting teal incubated more effectively. A small sample of Mallard, Gadwall, and Northern Shoveler eggs artificially incubated at 38.3 degree C hatched 1 day sooner, indicating that incubation temperature affected incubation length. Mean incubation length of Blue-winged Teal declined by 1 day for each 11-day delay in nesting, but we found no such seasonal decline among Mallards, Gadwalls, or Northern Shovelers. There is no obvious explanation for the seasonal reduction in incubation length for Blue-winged Teal eggs incubated in a constant environment, and the phenomenon deserves further study.
ISSN:0010-5422
1938-5129
DOI:10.1043/0010-5422(2005)107[0926:ILODD]2.0.CO;2