Make way for (future) ducklings! In April 2025, a mama mallard duck chose Planet Word’s Rooftop Terrace as the cozy nest spot for her future ducklings. Now, we’re celebrating with a live Duck Cam — tune in and meet our surprise rooftop residents!
The Duck Cam is live daily until the eggs hatch, which is expected to occur in late April 2025. Planet Word has been in contact with City Wildlife and is working closely with them to protect the nest and hatchlings.
Did you know?
- Ducks get their name from their tendency to dive under the water to feed (from Old English dūce “diver,” a derivative of the verb *dūcan “to duck, bend down low as if to get under something, or dive”). This word replaced Old English ened /ænid “duck,” possibly to avoid confusion with similar words.
- Male ducks are known as “drakes.”
- In Japanese, the proverb 鴨が葱をしょって来る (kamo ga negi o shottekuru), literally “a duck comes bearing green onions” (i.e., the condiment it will be served with), means “What a stroke of luck!” or “Here comes a sucker.”
Frequently Asked Questions
There are eight eggs in the nest. If the mother duck moves, you may get to see them!
Closer to the hatch date, City Wildlife will set up netting to prevent the ducklings from going off the edge of the roof. Once all are hatched, they will capture the ducklings and carefully bring them down to the ground level, where the mother duck will be reunited with her babies!
If the mother duck isn’t there, it’s likely that she left to find food or something to drink! We’ve most often seen her leave the nest for up to an hour during the late afternoon.
Birds are rare in the animal kingdom, in that most of them (81% according to one study) practice biparental care, meaning fathers are actively engaged in care for the young. However, that’s not the case with mallards. Male ducks may stick around early in the nest building process, but by the time the eggs are laid they’ve moved away. Males spend most of the year with other males of the species.
Visit City Wildlife’s Duck Watch webpage and read their Duck Watch FAQ to learn what to do if you find a nesting duck near your house or in your neighborhood.
Waddle This Way: A Duck Reading List
Duck, Death, and the Tulip, Wolf Erlbruch
In a curiously heart-warming and elegantly illustrated story, a duck strikes up an unlikely friendship with Death. Duck and Death play together and discuss big questions. Death, dressed in a dressing gown and slippers, is sympathetic and kind and will be duck’s companion until the end.
Duck for President, Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin
It is our pleasure, our honor, our duty as citizens to present to you Duck for President. Here is a duck who began in a humble pond. Who worked his way to farmer. To governor. And now, perhaps, to the highest office in the land. Some say, if he walks like a duck and talks like a duck, he is a duck. We say, if he walks like a duck and talks like a duck, he will be the next president of the United States of America. Thank you for your vote.
The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?, Mo Willems
The Duckling asks for a cookie — and gets one! It isn’t fair! The Pigeon NEVER gets what he asks for. Do YOU think the Pigeon should get a cookie, too?
Duck on a Bike, David Shannon
One day down on the farm, Duck got a wild idea. “I bet I could ride a bike,” he thought. He waddled over to where the boy parked his bike, climbed on, and began to ride. At first he rode slowly and he wobbled a lot, but it was fun! Suddenly, a group of kids ride by on their bikes and run into the farmhouse, leaving the bikes outside. Now ALL the animals can ride bikes, just like Duck!
Make Way for Ducklings, Robert McCloskey
Mrs. Mallard was sure that the pond in the Boston Public Gardens would be a perfect place for her and her eight ducklings to live. But when the busy streets of Boston become too risky for her and her family to navigate, the local police step in to make sure Mrs. Mallard and her ducklings — Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack — make it to their new home safely.
Q is for Duck, Mary Elting and Michael Folsom
This contemporary classic is no ordinary alphabet book. Why is “Q” for “Duck”? Because a duck quacks, of course. Even the youngest readers will delight in the riddle-like text and lively, humorous illustrations.
The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, Beatrix Potter
Poor Jemima. All she wants to do is lay her eggs in peace, and be allowed to hatch them herself. At last she flies off and finds the perfect place. Little does the silly duck realize that the charming gentleman who has lent her his woodshed is busily planning a delicious meal of . . . roast duck!
The Ugly Duckling, Hans Christian Andersen
For over one hundred years, The Ugly Duckling has been a childhood favorite, and Jerry Pinkney’s spectacular adaptation brings it triumphantly to new generations of readers: The journey of the awkward little bird — marching bravely through hecklers, hunters, and cruel seasons — is an unforgettable survival story; this blooming into a graceful swan is a reminder of the patience often necessary to discover true happiness.
The Wolf, the Duck, and the Mouse, Mac Barnett
When a woeful mouse is swallowed by a wolf, he quickly learns he is not alone: a duck has already set up digs, and, boy, has that duck got it figured out! Turns out it’s pretty nice in there, with delicious food and elegant table settings, courtesy of the wolf’s unchecked gluttony. And there’s something even better: no more fear of being eaten by a wolf! In fact, life is pretty good, until a hunter shows up . . .
Bookshop.org is an online bookstore that supports local, independent bookstores and publishers. Planet Word is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
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Did you know?
Perhaps ironically, the word “sesquipedalophobia” means “the fear of long words.” -
Did you know?
“Contronyms” are words that contain multiple meanings that are complete opposites of each other. For example, “oversight” means both “the action of overseeing something” and “a failure to notice something.” -
Did you know?
There are over 7,000 languages worldwide, but more than half the world’s population speaks only 23 of these languages. -
Did you know?
The first entirely artificial language was the Lingua Ignota, a private mystical cant recorded in the 12th century by St. Hildegard of Bingen. -
Did you know?
The 10 most-used letters in English are E, A, R, I, O, T, N, S, L, and C. -
Did you know?
Eels, llamas, and aardvarks, ooh my! In English, there are only four letters that appear as double letters at the beginning of a word: A, E, L, and O. -
Did you know?
A “deipnosophist” is a person who’s really good at making conversation at the dinner table. -
How do you get a dog to stop eating your books?
Take the words right out of its mouth! -
What's the difference between a cat and a comma?
A cat has claws at the end of its paws, but a comma’s a pause at the end of a clause. -
The past, the present, and the future walk into a bar...
It was tense. -
Is there a word that uses all the vowels including y?
Unquestionably. -
Riddle me this
What did the intransitive verb say when told it was pretty? (Answer: Nothing. Intransitive verbs can’t take complements.) -
Riddle me this
What does an island and the letter T have in common? (Answer: They’re both in the middle of water.) -
Riddle me this
What word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it? (Answer: Short) -
Riddle me this
What starts with an E, ends with an E, and contains just one letter? (Answer: An envelope!) -
Riddle me this
What begins with a T, ends with a T, and has T in it? (Answer: A teapot!) -
Riddle me this
What’s in centuries, hours, and years, but not minutes, days, or seconds? (Answer: The letter R!) -
Quote them on it
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” — Groucho Marx -
Quote them on it
“The past is always tense, the future perfect.” — Zadie Smith -
Quote them on it
“If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.” — Toni Morrison -
Quote them on it
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies...The man who never reads lives only once.” — George R.R. Martin -
Quote them on it
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” — Nelson Mandela