Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Duck Characteristics
Ducks are smaller than than their relatives (swans and geese). Ducks also have
shorter necks and wings and a stout body.
The reason for this is because their feet have no nerves or blood
vessels in them. The webbed feet are powerful and allow the
duck to swim rather fast.
The duck picks up the oil with its head and beak, and then
smears it all over its body to make the outer feathers waterproof.
Without this protective barrier, a ducks feathers would become
water-logged and because they spend their whole lives around
and in water, this water-proof barrier is extremely important.
Beneath the water-proof coat are fluffy and soft feathers which
keep the duck warm.
However, ducks beak comes in different shapes and sizes. The shape of the beak
and body determines how the duck will hunt for its food.
Duck Behaviour
Ducks keep clean by preening themselves.
Ducks do this by putting their heads in funny
positions and putting their beaks into their
body. Ducks preen themselves very often.
Preening also removes parasites, removes
scales which cover newly sprouting feathers
and also involves the removal of spreading oil
over clean feathers.
Duck Habitats
Many species of duck are temporarily flightless while moulting. Ducks seek out
protected habitats with a good food supply during this period. They usually moult
before migrating.
Ducks are found in wetlands, marshes, ponds, rivers, lakes and oceans. This is
because ducks love the water. Some species of ducks migrate or travel longs
distances every year to breed. Ducks usually travel to warmer areas or where the
water does not freeze so that they can rest and raise their young. The distance may
be thousands of miles away. Ducks are found everywhere in the world except the
Antarctica which is too cold for them.
Ducks can live from 2 - 20 years, depending on species and whether they are wild
ducks or ducks in captivity. Its a fact that a wild duck can live 20 years or more.
Domestic ducks typically live 10 - 15 years in captivity. The world record is a
Mallard Drake that lived to a ripe old age of 27 years.
Shovelers - these ducks have broad beaks and sift their food for insects, nails and
seed from the mud.
Diving ducks and Sea ducks forage deep underwater. To be able to submerge
more easily, the diving ducks are heavier than dabbling ducks and therefore have
more difficulty taking off to fly. These ducks have long and narrow beaks. Their
narrow beaks are also covered with saw-like edges which help them to grab fish.
Dabbling ducks feed on the surface of water or on land, or as deep as they can
reach by up-ending without completely submerging. Their beaks are broad and
short. Dabbling ducks have tiny rows of plates along the inside of the beak called
'lamellae' like a whales baleen. These let them filter water out of the side of their
beaks and keep food inside. Dabbling ducks eat plants, seeds, grasses and other
small insects and animals that they find on or under the water. Usually they stick
their tails in the air and stretch their heads into the water to reach their food.
Dabblers usually have shiny coloured patches on their wings. The domestic ducks
are dabblers too. They are descendents of the Mallards. Dabbling ducks take off
from the water in quick jumps. Ducks with longer necks dive with their head down
into the shallow water and pick up their food.
The female duck builds her nest with grass or reeds or even in a hole in a tree.Once
the female lays 5 - 12 eggs, she will sit on her eggs to keep them warm so that they
can hatch into ducklings.
When the young are ready to fly, all the ducks will gather in flocks on large lakes,
marshes or the ocean to migrate to their wintering home. When the ducks fly, they
usually do so in a 'V-shaped' or a long line.
• Touching a duckling does not prevent the mother duck from taking care of
it. It is however best to leave ducklings alone so as not to scare the mother
duck away or accidentally injure them.
• Ducks sleep with half their brains awake. Ducks are more likely to sleep
with one eye open when they are located on the edge of sleeping groups.
Ducks can detect predators in less than a second.
• Duck eggshells have tiny holes (pores) that allow it to breathe. A hen's eggs
can have 7500 pores, most found at the blunt end of the egg. Respiratory
gasses as well as water vapour travel through these pores allowing the egg to
breathe.
• Baby ducks are precocial meaning they are born with their eyes wide open,
with a warm layer of down and are not fully dependant on their parents for
food. Ducklings are ready to leave the nest within hours of hatching.
• A 'clutch' is the total number of eggs laid by one bird during one nesting
session. Clutch size affected by hereditary and environmental factors. When
food is abundant, birds lay more eggs.