A pair of Mallard ducks were living in my backyard for a while, and one morning I unfortunately found the female had died. I'm not sure how it happened since there were no wounds or damage to the body. She may have struck something or perhaps had an illness, but she was unharmed and all her bones were in good shape. Nearby I found a nest of eggs, which were now completely alone since father ducks leave after the eggs are laid. The eggs went to a nature rehabilitation center and a few months later we were told all the ducklings had been released back into the wild. I'm glad that even though their mother didn't survive, her babies were able to have a second chance.

I buried the mother duck in a shallow pile of compost and let her decompose from May 18th to November 22nd. Her bones would have been clean in a matter of weeks up to a month, but I was too busy I guess. When I dug her up, a yellow fungus had grown on the bones, but it didn't harm them.

Duck bones are fairly simple to arrange apart from the wings and feet. I will have to do some more research to make sure I have them in the correct order.