lanyard wrote:More likely territorial competition/defense actions by coots. Likely happens to other ducks besides canvas backs, but no one cares enough to put a camera on a widgeon/ring neck/red head nest
And how big of a sorry sack is a canvas back getting it's ass kicked by a coot. It's a freaking coot!
Your naivety is showing, as you do not realize that Widgeon are upland nesters.
How about the coot destroying the nest? territorial or not, that is still predation in the broad perspective of a lost nest.
And the Coot was trying to kill the ducklings and the hen Can was indeed defending all her ducklings.... So was she being " a wimp" as you assert? I don't think so!
I think we should start a new organization - "Kill a Coot, Save the ducks!"
I nominate Bullet to the be the head scout and report to us where the biggest concentrations are to the members of this new org. And He gets to shoot 1st when they come in (hell he does that already anyhow...)