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Population Dynamics of Breeding Waterfowl

V. Egg Survival

B. Losses of Individual Eggs

Even though a nesting attempt may be successful, in that at least one egg from the clutch hatches, some eggs may not hatch for any of several reasons, such as infertility, death of the embryo, or predation. Survival rates of eggs in successful nests are usually high (Table 14-2).

Table 14-2. Reported incidence of egg loss in successful nests of waterfowl species.

			Percentage loss to
Species/Subspecies	Area	Sample size (number of eggs)	Infertility	Embryo death	Other	Source
Black Swan	Aust.	1,976			10.3^a	Braithwaite 1982
Graylag Goose	Scot.	373			6.0^a	Newton & Kerbes 1974
Bar-headed Goose	Ger.	All nests^b	7.0	49.5	15.5	Lamprecht 1986
Snow Goose	N.W.T.	403	1.0		29.8	Ryder 1971
Ross' Goose	N.W.T.	2,235		3.5-6.6^a	13.1-33.2	Ryder 1972
Emperor Goose	AK	1,303	2.5	0.3	20.4	Eisenhauer & Kirkpatrick 1977
Canada Goose leucopareia maxima moffitti occidentalis	BC Alb. BC AK Manit. IL IA MT WA WA CA CA CA AK	1,907^b 400 348^b 473^b 2,912^b 729 1,002 1,221 3,947 14,796 810 350 432 1,017	1.8 5.5 3.5 7.9 3.0 6.5 1.5 2.6 1.9 2.0 2.1 0.9	2.2 4.0 2.2 2.3 15.2 12.9^a 2.1 6.3 6.4 9.4 8.3	7.2 7.6 23.0 22.0 4.5 1.1 2.9 0.6 2.3 1.7 7.4	Munro 1960 Vermeer 1970 Vermeer & Davies 1978 Byrd & Woolington 1983 Cooper 1978 Kossack 1950 Nigus 1979 Geis 1956 Hanson & Browning 1959 Hanson & Eberhardt 1971 Miller & Collins 1953 Naylor 1953 Naylor & Hunt 1954 Hansen 1961
Wood Duck	NY MA OR CA	644 ? 640(dump) 261(normal) 121(dump) 69(normal)	5.5 8.0	7.0 9.2^a 0.8^a	12.0 3.5 47.1 20.3	Haramis & Thompson 1985 McLaughlin & Grice 1952 Morse & Wight 1969 Robinson 1958
Gadwall	CA ND CA CA Alb.	21 90N^c(islands) 934(mainlands) 3,834 2,650 259	4.8 4.8^a 1.1 1.8	16.0^a 3.3 3.7	1.4 1.8 4.6	Anderson 1957 Hammond & Mann 1956 Miller & Collins 1954 Rienecker & Anderson 1960 Vermeer 1968
Mallard	CA Que. Pol. CA CA FL	739 793 1,278^b(nest basket) 330^b(natural nest) 1,622 2,804 612	3.7 2.3 1.0 0.9 1.6 1.4 2.8	5.0 4.9 4.5 0.3	7.9 9.7 2.1 1.9 3.3	Anderson 1957 Laperle 1974 Majewski 1986 Miller & Collins 1954 Rienecker & Anderson 1960 Stieglitz & Wilson 1968
Black Duck	Que. MD	484 336	2.2 0.3	2.1	11.4	Laperle 1974 Stotts & Davis 1960
Pintail	CA CA	376 1,556	1.9 3.7	5.1 4.4	0.7 1.3	Miller & Collins 1954 Rienecker & Anderson 1960
Cinnamon Teal	CA CA CA	64 343 287	9.4 0.9 1.0	4.7 9.0 8.4	12.5 1.7 0.7	Anderson 1957 Miller & Collins 1954 Rienecker & Anderson 1960
N. Shoveler	CA CA	389 657	1.3 0.8	4.4 3.8	2.8 1.0	Miller & Collins 1954 Rienecker & Anderson 1960
Canvasback	OR	375	8.0(host)	5.1(host)		Erickson 1948
E. Pochard	Czech.	1,056		9.8^a	0.3	Havlín 1966a
Redhead	IA MT IA CA CA	97 202 1,509^b 303 892	25.7 3.5 4.7 3.0 5.0	6.9 5.5 24.8 21.4	20.8 3.6 0.8	Bennet 1938 Lokemoen 1966 Low 1945 Miller & Collins 1954 Rienecker & Anderson 1960
Tufted Duck	Czech.	1,050		10.8^a	1.1	Havlín 1966a
Lesser Scaup	CA CA Alb.	96 209 619	2.1	10.4 4.8	7.2 9.0	Miller & Collins 1954 Rienecker & Anderson 1960 Vermeer 1968
Eider	Neth.	?			4.0^a	Swennen 1983, citing Bergman 1939
Bufflehead	BC	751	2.5	2.1	2.1	Erskine 1971
H. Merganser	Que.	173		8.7^a		Bouvier 1974
Goldeneye	Que.	37		13.5^a		Bouvier 1974
Ruddy Duck	IA CA CA	546^b 64 268	1.5 2.6	5.5 28.1 22.8	0.7 1.5 0.8	Low 1941 Miller & Collins 1954 Rienecker & Anderson 1960
^aValue includes percentage loss to infertility and embryo death.
^bThe sample size refers to eggs from successful and unsuccessful nests.
^cN pertains to the number of nests rather than the number of eggs.

1. Infertility

Infertility does not seem to be a serious problem in most natural waterfowl populations (Kossack 1950, Spencer 1953, Klopman 1958, Amat 1987). Hanson (1965) suggested that fertility of subdominant Canada Geese was depressed when populations were dense. Declines in fertility during the breeding season have been reported for wild Mallards (Amat 1987), captive Mallards (Batt and Prince 1978), and Cinnamon Teal (Spencer 1953). Hildén (1964) presented his own findings and summarized other studies and concluded that 22.5 - 25% of unhatched eggs were infertile.

2. Embryonic Death

In order to hatch, eggs require a carefully controlled microclimate, generally provided by an incubating adult (Howey et al. 1984). Because excessively large clutches cannot be properly cared for, parasitized or dump nests often have depressed hatchability (Robinson 1958; Weller 1959; Bezzel 1969; Clawson, Hartman, and Fredrickson 1979; McCamant and Bolen 1979). Some eggs in parasitized or dump clutches may not hatch because they were laid after the host hen had begun incubation (Robinson 1958, Bezzel 1969, Alliston 1979a). Also, the intrusion of foreign eggs may cause eggs to be expelled, fall out of the nest, or be broken (Weller 1959, Newton and Campbell 1975).

Clutches of normal size also can face adverse conditions during embryonic development. Arnold, Rohwer, and Armstrong (1987) reported lower hatchability when incubation was delayed more than five days. Hatchability may be reduced by tidal flooding or heavy precipitation (Hansen 1961, MacCallum 1971); chilling of eggs (Bishop and Barratt 1970); excessively dry conditions (Mayhew 1955, Salyer 1962); or exposure to heat (Choate 1967, Braithwaite 1982). Nesting substrate may also influence hatchability; Culbertson, Cadwell, and Buss (1971) and Hanson and Eberhardt (1971) found that Canada Goose nests built on cobblestone were more susceptible to breakage than those on sand. Also, Hildén (1964:214) identified a trend of decreasing hatchability toward southern latitudes, for which he hypothesized heat stress as a cause. Disturbance of the incubating female can expose the eggs to adverse conditions (Doty, Lee, and Kruse 1975). Shortages of nesting materials may cause egg losses by disturbances during pilferage of nest material by other hens (Braithwaite 1970). Hatching success of eggs often declines in dense nesting concentrations (Hammond and Mann 1956; Duebbert, Lokemoen, and Sharp 1983). Murphy (1988) noted lower egg hatchability from captive Canada Geese under poorer diets.

3. Predation

Individual eggs can be depredated, often by the same species that sometimes take entire clutches. Some predators (e.g., Franklin's ground squirrel and woodpeckers) often do not take the entire clutch. Such predation will result in clutch reduction, rather than destruction, or even abandonment if the female deserts after losing some eggs (Haramis and Thompson 1985).

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