Almanac: Mallard duck eggs

What: Mallards (scientific name: Anas platyrhynchos) build nests in thick vegetation, laying five to 14 eggs in a feather-lined nest. The eggs incubate for 26-30 days; down-covered ducklings start flying after about 55 days.

Found: These clutch of eight appeared in nest in a pasture. Mallards range throughout Minnesota, preferring lakes, swamps and flooded grain fields.

Dangers: Predators include skunks, coyotes, fox, mink and raptors.

Numbers: The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' spring waterfowl surveys showed the number of breeding mallards dropped to an estimated 206,000 birds, down 20 percent compared with last year's survey. The estimate is down 17 percent compared with the 10-year average, but up 10 percent compared with the long-term average dating to 1968.

Habitat: The DNR surveys estimated the number of wetlands at 220,000, down 36 percent compared with the long-term average. Precipitation causes the number of wetlands to vary greatly.

Source: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources