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Interpreting Evidence of Depredation of Duck Nests
in the Prairie Pothole Region

Appendix B, Table 3
Table 3. Frequency of various types of damage among eggshells of duck nests depredated by principal predators of duck nests in the Prairie Pothole Region, 1972-92.
      Frequency (%)
Predator Data type No. eggshellsa Small holes Large holes Severly damagedb
Coyote Artifical nest 129 93 2 5
Red fox Artifical nest, loose egg 42 20 73 7
Raccoon Artifical nest 144 13 66 21
Striped skunk Artifical nest 208 12 66 22
  Natural nest 67 4 58 36
American badger Natural nest 265 3 40 57
Mink Loose egg 28 36 50 14
Weaselsc Loose egg 15d 60 33 7
Franklin's ground squirrel Artifical nest 35 23 57 20
Black-billed magpie Artifical nest 23 39 57 4
American crow Artifical nest 61 51 43 7
Gullse Artifical nest 26 35 50 15
  Loose egg 54 35 41 22
a Examined eggshells whose connected parts made up ≥50% of the intact shell of an egg.
b Includes fractured, trampled, and crushed eggshells (see Glossary for definitions).
c Ermine and long-tailed weasel.
d Includes 12 eggshells provided by J.P. Fleskes, Iowa Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Ames, and 3 eggshells interpreted from photos in Teer (1964).
e Ring-billed gull and California gull.
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