Would a Raven kill a duck?

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Nathan231

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For the first time in years at my house there has been a pair of Mallards in my brook. The hen has appeared to be pregnant as she has been slowly increasing in size. Today, however I noticed a raven down where they usually hang out. I got out the spotting scope to see what he was doing. I could see a lot of red so I walked down to see what he was eating. Turns out he was eating the hen mallard. Boy was I furious! Could a raven actually kill a duck? I know they are large birds but I didn't think they were that powerful or bold?
 
Nathan231 said:
For the first time in years at my house there has been a pair of Mallards in my brook. The hen has appeared to be pregnant as she has been slowly increasing in size. Today, however I noticed a raven down where they usually hang out. I got out the spotting scope to see what he was doing. I could see a lot of red so I walked down to see what he was eating. Turns out he was eating the hen mallard. Boy was I furious! Could a raven actually kill a duck? I know they are large birds but I didn't think they were that powerful or bold?
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Don't really know but I have a pair of ducks also now in my gold fish pond setting up house.Wife came in the other day in a panic saying go help the ducks there are two crows out there fighting with them. Sure enough there was quite a battle going on when I went out.
 
If crows would start a fight then a raven would deffenitly try and have one for lunch. The hen was getting so big she could hardly waddle or fly fast. The raven probably just seized the easy opportunity. Awe well. I'm sure the drake will be back next year with a new mate. Feel kinda sad for the poor bugger though. He's down there floating in circles. :p
 
Not sure about adult ducks but young for sure... The young red squirrels are out in full force now up here and it was funny to watch a huge raven the other day try and take one right out of a pine tree. he was going around in circles took the young squirrel a few minutes to realize this big black thing actually meant it harm, then it took off screaming to hide.
 
Try searching out a ravens nest and look at some of the detritis below it. Adult, young waterfowl are high on the list with all kinds of mamillian speces... which I would think are comprised mostly of road kill.

The nest I observed had evidence of adult wood ducks, mallards, shovelers, ruffed grouse and all kinds of bones and hair. I have personally seen a raven catch and kill a feral pigeon in an downtown urban environment so I would think a mallard gaurding her nest/young would be easy prey.

Ravens like owls start to nest very early in the spring and its not uncommon for them to have eggs layed before early April. Their eggs are suprisingly small for birds of that size. The nest I observed had three olive green and dark brown mottled eggs which were smaller than a chicken egg. It (the nest) was removed as it was a safety concern on an industrial location.
 
I watched a crow kill a rabbit in the backyard last fall, and the rabbit was fast, the crow even chased him under a trailer. So I guess a crow or bigger still a raven could definitely dispatch a duck. Nature is cruel, the strongest and smartest will usually win.
 
I've seen ravens take out alot of pigeons so I think a duck would be very possible as well, most birds, esp. ducks are much stronger flyers than Ravens, so the Ravens have to pick their spots, like a sitting duck.
 
Ravens are opportunists, and will kill surprisingly large prey if they can get the chance. A duck would be no problem if caught on a pond or at some other disadvantage. Eagleye.
 
What's this about a pregnant duck and getting so big it could hardly wobble??
I hope it is a joke and he is just being funny.
 
Crows and ravens are known to be highly agressive, territorial birds, as such they will take on surprisingly large critters at times. I have personally seen crows take on large dogs at times so a duck wouldn't be much problem for them.
 
Absolutely they can and will kill a duck. We used to hunt a farm between Iroquois Falls and Cochrane where the farmer had problems with them killing cattle and that is no joke! They would fly down, land on a cows head and quickly strike at the eyes repeating it over and over until the cow lost vision and would become disoriented and end up falling down not able to see to move where it would eventually die or have to be put down. We couldnt shoot the Ravens for him but we sure shot alot of fox coming for the easy pickings. He shot the ravens every chance he got and I dont blame him. Only happened during the winter months though? I am guessing because food was in much shorter supply in winter.

And dont get mad at me but ducks dont gather a bunch of eggs inside them before laying. Like all other birds they lay one each day until they have produced all they are going to then they sit on the nest to hatch them out.f:P:2:
 
X2 on killing cattle. Before ivomec became commonplace they would attack the warbles on a cows back. Continue pecking until they got into the back bone and down they go. Ravens are smart as hell and figure most things out with ease
 
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