Heartbroken. My two mallard girls flew off from their home lake. They are no where to be found.

[Lin97588]

Heartbroken. Our two 5.5 month mallard girls decided to explore beyond our lake and haven’t come back.

We have two mallard girls who have been raised since they were babies. Very bonded, and live in a coop/run with daily outdoor foraging. They usually come in before dark, and have only stayed out overnight a few times over the past two months during a full moon. We live on a nature preserve lake with only 4 other neighbors. These ducks have hung around and joined us all on our boats and have brought so much joy to all our lives.

With fall in full swing, they have been having a good time flying around meeting other waterfowl on the lake. They’ve befriended the geese and swans, but haven’t met many ducks. We started noticing some wood ducks and a few mallards flying over, and sometimes taking off in the evenings from the corner of the lake.

This is the 4th time the ducks stayed out overnight. They greeted us at the dock in the morning, but didn’t want to come in so I wasn’t going to force it. I go back up to the house, and then checked multiple times during the day with them no where to be found. We took a boat ride around and didn’t see any waterfowl. This morning, no sign of them either. Just the swans hanging out.

They usually come to our duck call. Or if they see us on the dock. But they are no where to be found. I’m so sad. I want them to live their best duck life and hopefully they get to meet a mate and a bigger flock to join. Selfishly, I wanted them to just stick around on our lake and continue to take care of them. We are in zone 6a, so winter is coming soon.

Can anyone share any experience with flying mallards? Do they come back?

 

[sourland]

They may have joined a migrating flock, and they may very well return to your lake with mates in the spring.

 

[Lin97588]

They may have joined a migrating flock, and they may very well return to your lake with mates in the spring.

They started to stay out of their coop/run for a few days and I think they met the other mallards on the lake. We think they joined the flock. They keep flying between our lake and the lake across the street. We are surrounded by farms. Hope to see them again one day! Lots of drakes showed up this week.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Heartbroken. Our two 5.5 month mallard girls decided to explore beyond our lake and haven’t come back.

We have two mallard girls who have been raised since they were babies. Very bonded, and live in a coop/run with daily outdoor foraging. They usually come in before dark, and have only stayed out overnight a few times over the past two months during a full moon. We live on a nature preserve lake with only 4 other neighbors. These ducks have hung around and joined us all on our boats and have brought so much joy to all our lives.

With fall in full swing, they have been having a good time flying around meeting other waterfowl on the lake. They’ve befriended the geese and swans, but haven’t met many ducks. We started noticing some wood ducks and a few mallards flying over, and sometimes taking off in the evenings from the corner of the lake.

This is the 4th time the ducks stayed out overnight. They greeted us at the dock in the morning, but didn’t want to come in so I wasn’t going to force it. I go back up to the house, and then checked multiple times during the day with them no where to be found. We took a boat ride around and didn’t see any waterfowl. This morning, no sign of them either. Just the swans hanging out.

They usually come to our duck call. Or if they see us on the dock. But they are no where to be found. I’m so sad. I want them to live their best duck life and hopefully they get to meet a mate and a bigger flock to join. Selfishly, I wanted them to just stick around on our lake and continue to take care of them. We are in zone 6a, so winter is coming soon.

Can anyone share any experience with flying mallards? Do they come back?

I have been very lucky to get mine back when it flew down and around the street to a neighbors house and another neighbor caught it for me. I since clip their wings. Some people try to say that tame Mallards can't fly as well as wild ones but they surely can. Many people have lost theirs to flight. Mine even had a bonded sister that did not go with her. They were in a part of the pen that was uncovered for a short bit and she just decided to take off. I thought I would never see her again. I pray that yours comes back if not now then in the spring. Mine are banded so I know they are mine. Good luck and I am sorry that they took off on you.

 

[Lin97588]

I have been very lucky to get mine back when it flew down and around the street to a neighbors house and another neighbor caught it for me. I since clip their wings. Some people try to say that tame Mallards can't fly as well as wild ones but they surely can. Many people have lost theirs to flight. Mine even had a bonded sister that did not go with her. They were in a part of the pen that was uncovered for a short bit and she just decided to take off. I thought I would never see her again. I pray that yours comes back if not now then in the spring. Mine are banded so I know they are mine. Good luck and I am sorry that they took off on you.

Aww thank you for your message. It’s been 1 week 1 day since I saw them last. However, I do see them fly with their new flock of 12 every single day since. They seem to rest on our lake during the day and fly in the direction of the park lake across the street or open farmland. I sometimes see them all early morning just after sunrise. They are very consistent on when they fly at night, about a half hour after sunset. I can hear them quacking right before they fly so I know to look for them. It’s such a good feeling to see them. I think they went out and found mates …we usually see the ducks near our dock towards December….so maybe we will get a visit some day.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Aww thank you for your message. It’s been 1 week 1 day since I saw them last. However, I do see them fly with their new flock of 12 every single day since. They seem to rest on our lake during the day and fly in the direction of the park lake across the street or open farmland. I sometimes see them all early morning just after sunrise. They are very consistent on when they fly at night, about a half hour after sunset. I can hear them quacking right before they fly so I know to look for them. It’s such a good feeling to see them. I think they went out and found mates …we usually see the ducks near our dock towards December….so maybe we will get a visit some day.

You are most welcome. I pray that they return in the spring and let you see their little ones. It's great that you can see them enjoying life and know what a great job you did of raising them. I have sold some of my babies to people and they have all flown off when they got about this age. I have been fortunate to have been able to keep mine as long as I have. They are about 4 years old now.

 

[SusanDuck]

I have been very lucky to get mine back when it flew down and around the street to a neighbors house and another neighbor caught it for me. I since clip their wings. Some people try to say that tame Mallards can't fly as well as wild ones but they surely can. Many people have lost theirs to flight. Mine even had a bonded sister that did not go with her. They were in a part of the pen that was uncovered for a short bit and she just decided to take off. I thought I would never see her again. I pray that yours comes back if not now then in the spring. Mine are banded so I know they are mine. Good luck and I am sorry that they took off on you.

I’m curious… who did you get to band the ducks and did you do it when they were just babies?
We have mallards that return to nest year after year in the same spot and since they all look the same, we have no idea if it’s the same one or maybe one of the babies from the year before.
Is it even possible to band a wild Mallard ?

 

[Luv Ducks]

I

I’m curious… who did you get to band the ducks and did you do it when they were just babies?
We have mallards that return to nest year after year in the same spot and since they all look the same, we have no idea if it’s the same one or maybe one of the babies from the year before.
Is it even possible to band a wild Mallard ?

I actually leant mine out to a college student years ago for a food study test. He banded them to make sure when he gave them back to me that they were the ones I got from Metzer Farms and not some others from Michigan that he also was using for his test. I have never banded any of mine and I would think it would be hard to try to catch a wild one and do that to it. Usually they do return to the same spot to lay their eggs and nest though is what I have always heard. Sorry I am not in very much help to you.

 

[SusanDuck]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

 

[Luv Ducks]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

You are most welcome. I hope your Mallards return to you.