Ducks

[00:00:00] Alex Re: Hello. Welcome to On Wildlife. I'm your host, Alex Re. On this podcast, we bring the wild to you. We take you on a journey into the life of a different animal every week. And I guarantee you, you're going to come out of here knowing more about your favorite animal than you did before. On this episode, we may be taking a walk around your neighborhood park to see the animal that we're going to be talking about today.

[00:00:26] They might be common where you live, but I'm sure there's a lot you don't know about them. So get ready, because we're heading on land, in the water, and in the air, to talk about ducks.

[00:00:54] Ducks belong to the family Anatidae. Also in that family are swans and geese. some of ducks closest relatives. The term duck comes from the old English term, duke. This means dive, and ducks are waterfowl, which means that they like to spend their time in or near the water. There are about a hundred and thirty known duck species in the world, and they're an extremely diverse group with all kinds of cool adaptations.

[00:01:23] Ducks are found on every continent except Antarctica. And you'll usually find them near a body of water, like I said earlier. A lot of people like to group them into four different categories. Dabbling Ducks, Diving Ducks, Sea Ducks, and Perching Ducks. Dabbling Ducks bob on the surface and feed just a few inches beneath the water.

[00:01:46] When they're eating, you'll probably see half of their body underwater, and the other half above the water with their tail up in the air. One species of dabbling ducks is called the northern pintail. Diving ducks like to do a deep dive for their meals. Most species of diving ducks are native to the northern hemisphere.

[00:02:06] And one common diving duck species is the tufted duck. And something interesting is that the structure of a diving duck's trachea, which is their windpipe, is different than a dabbling duck. Sea ducks usually like to spend their winters near coastal water. So you may see them floating on the ocean. Most of the species have developed salt glands to help them better tolerate salt water.

[00:02:31] This group contains 22 different species. And finally, perching ducks can be found sitting on tree branches near a body of water. And they've actually adapted sharp talons, or claws, so that they can hold on to the branches. Now, a common misconception that a lot of people have is that a mallard is a male duck.

[00:02:51] But that's actually not true. A mallard is an entire species of duck. Male ducks are called drakes, and females are called hens. Mallards are probably what you think of when you're imagining ducks. Males have fluorescent green heads and a brownish gray body. They also have a white ring that separates their green feathers from their brown feathers.

[00:03:16] Females are pretty much brown all over their body with no green coloration of the head. This is an example of sexual dimorphism, where males and females look different from each other. We'll talk more about their reproduction later, but the bright feathers that the males have are used to attract females.

[00:03:36] A way you can identify mallards is by looking at their wings. Both males and females have a shiny patch of blue feathers on their wings called a speculum. The largest species of duck is the Muscovy duck. They can weigh in at a maximum of around 15 pounds, and the males are generally larger than the females.

[00:03:58] They're easily identified by their black and white feather combination paired with pink or red waddles. Waddles are fleshy structures that hang around the head or neck of some bird species. You'll probably see one on a rooster or a turkey. The male waddles are normally brighter red than the females.

[00:04:19] Now, because ducks spend a lot of their time in the water, they have tons of adaptations that you wouldn't see in non waterfowl. And we'll talk about those adaptations right after the break.

[00:04:42] Today's science word is Matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space, like a solid, liquid, or a gas. Everything you interact with is made up of matter, even the air you breathe. A duck's adaptations to thrive in the water start with their feathers. Their outer feathers have a waxy coating that make them waterproof.

[00:05:17] Have you ever heard the saying, like water off a duck's back? It's because water will literally slide right off of a duck's feathers. The outer feathers help protect the inner layer of feathers, known as down. Down helps to keep the ducks warm, acting like a fur coat. This allows the ducks to swim in really cold temperatures.

[00:05:38] Ducks also have webbed feet to help propel them through the water. Mallards have been observed swimming at up to 20 miles an hour. Not only are ducks comfortable in the water, they're also comfortable in the air. Ducks, like most birds, have pneumatized bones, which is a fancy way of saying hollow bones.

[00:05:59] And there are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to bird bones. A ton of us have been told that birds have lighter bones to make it easier to fly. I definitely thought that too. But on further research, that's not the case. Just because their bones are hollow doesn't mean they're lighter. Birds bones are just as heavy as ours proportional to their body size.

[00:06:22] Their bones are actually really dense, which helps keep them strong and resist breaking. But why are they hollow? Well, their bones are filled with tiny air sacs that give them extra amounts of oxygen. They're able to take in oxygen when they breathe in and when they breathe out. This helps them breathe at higher altitudes and more oxygen means more energy so that they can fly longer.

[00:06:47] Ducks and other birds have an enlarged breastbone for wing anchoring. This anchoring to the breastbone helps the bird gain leverage to fly. And some species of flightless birds don't have this enlarged breastbone. Duck's feathers can help with flight too. Birds have specific feathers called flight feathers, which are found on the wings and tails.

[00:07:10] These feathers help with liftoff and help them maneuver in midair. So we talked about some cool adaptations that ducks have, but what do they eat? Ducks are omnivores, meaning that they'll eat both plants and animals. They'll eat aquatic plants, invertebrates like insects or snails, and some species of fish, too.

[00:07:32] Because there are so many species of ducks, There are a lot of differences in what they eat. For example, mergansers are a group of diving ducks that have adapted to catch and eat fish whole. Owp. Most bird species have what's called a crop, which is a pocket like space in their throat that allows food to be stored and filtered through their intestines over a long period of time.

[00:07:56] But ducks don't have this. Instead, they can expand their esophagus to accommodate their large food intake. Their bills are different from other bird species as well, in that they're kind of flat. But the shape of their bill can differ depending on the species, based specifically on what they eat. Those that have more flattened bills, use them as shovels to help dig up soil to find small invertebrates to eat.

[00:08:24] And if you look inside of a duck's bill, you'll see structures that look like teeth. Well, they're not teeth. They're called lamellae, and they don't use them to chew. The lamellae act like a filter. When they grab a clump full of food, it also comes with mud and water. The lamellae filter out all the mud and water from their beaks and leave them with just the food.

[00:08:48] Other animals that have lamellae are geese and flamingos. Some ducks also have pectin on the sides of their beaks. Pectin are comb like structures that are also used as a filter for food, but they can help ducks clean their feathers, too. On average, ducks take one mate at a time, but unlike swans and other waterfowl, they don't mate for life.

[00:09:13] Most partnerships last about a year long. Once a male has a partner, they'll follow them back to the breeding grounds in order to protect them from other males. A very common behavior with ducks is forced mating, where males will try to mate with females that have already chosen another mate. It was originally believed that the males who didn't have a mate were responsible for these forced matings.

[00:09:39] However, it was found that males that already had a mate were the majority of the ones practicing this behavior. This is a trade off though, because while the males are possibly making more babies, they're also leaving their own females unattended and at risk for being mated with by another male as well.

[00:09:58] Females are the only ones who sit on the eggs, and they're responsible for building the nest, too. Most dabbling ducks lay their nests on land in grassy areas. They make a depression in the ground and fill it with nearby grasses and other vegetation. And not only do they use vegetation to build their nests, but some females have been known to use their own feathers as building materials, too.

[00:10:25] Some diving ducks build their nests on the water's surface. They take advantage of floating vegetation already available in their natural habitat, and they often support it with thick grass and weeds so it's floating on the water. Some species of ducks, like wood ducks, use pre existing tree cavities to lay their eggs in.

[00:10:46] Most species reproduce once a year, and they usually produce around 8 to 15 eggs at a time. Eggs are composed of a hard outer shell for protection, and behind that lays an outer and inner membrane. The white of the egg is called the albumin, and it contains proteins needed for the development of the embryo.

[00:11:07] The yellow center, or yolk, acts as a food source for the embryo, and it will be continued to be absorbed in the first few hours after hatching. An interesting thing about ducks is that their hatchlings are precocial. This means that pretty much right when they're born, they can do most things on their own.

[00:11:26] Human babies are not precocial. Ducklings can swim immediately after hatching, and one of the first things that the mothers do after they're born is introduce them to the water. If you've seen a mother duck with all of her babies, you'll notice that they follow her every step. This is partially because of something called imprinting.

[00:11:48] The first few days of a duck's life is called the sensitive period, and their mother's image is ingrained in their mind. From this point on, they know to follow her wherever she goes. Imprinting doesn't just work for their biological mother, though. Anyone or sometimes anything with prolonged exposure to the duckling during their sensitive period can be imprinted on by them.

[00:12:13] One researcher found that they can even imprint on inanimate objects. Ducks are social creatures who feel safer in groups. A group of ducks on the water is called a paddling. A group of ducks will help keep each other's nests safe. which prevents mold or any parasites from attacking the eggs. They're also known to migrate in groups during the colder months, and we'll talk about that and more right after the break.

[00:12:54] Time for today's trivia question. In what country could you only find these three animals? An aye aye? a fossa, and a ring tailed lemur. The answer is Madagascar. All of these animals are endemic to Madagascar, meaning they can't be found naturally anywhere else in the world.

[00:13:33] Migration is dependent on the region the ducks live in, and it's not always the temperature that drives them away. Some research has shown that the amount of daylight in a day is the primary factor driving migration. Ducks that eat vegetation as their primary food source may need to migrate sooner than species who rely on invertebrates or fish.

[00:13:57] This is because plants are usually the first to be affected by the decreasing temperatures. Ducks have to prepare for migration months ahead of time. They pack on as much weight as possible in order to survive during the months with barely any resources. They also need this excess in energy to make the extremely long trip to their next destination.

[00:14:21] A study done between 2004 and 2007 found that mallard ducks migrated an average of 730 miles in the spring and 875 in the fall. That's more than the distance between New York City and Chicago. Their location isn't the only thing that changes with the seasons. Both males and females will go through seasonal molts.

[00:14:48] This is where they shed their old feathers and grow in new ones. This can be a pretty uncomfortable time for ducks, and they often rely on each other to help get all the old feathers out. And we can't talk about ducks without discussing the famous sound they make, the quack. Ducks quack for many reasons, mainly to communicate with other ducks.

[00:15:12] Sometimes they'll quack to locate their partners. Other times, they'll use it to warn other ducks of danger, or to claim a specific spot to lay a nest. Female ducks also have softer claws that they use to communicate with their hatchlings. Ducks, just like all native species, are a vital part of the ecosystem.

[00:15:34] They help control aquatic insect populations and vegetation, and they're a food source for many large predators, including raccoons, and humans, but they can also cause potential harms to humans and non native habitats. For example, they carry the avian flu and have been one of the reasons why there was an outbreak in 2022.

[00:15:58] In the U. S., mallards are native. But they're also considered invasive species in Australia and New Zealand. Mallards take away resources from a native species in Australia called the freckled duck. Freckled ducks are really struggling because not only are they having to compete for resources, but humans are also taking away their habitats.

[00:16:20] We can have a huge impact on the health and well being of duck populations. Another example of this is with people feeding ducks. It may be fun to watch them eat the food that you throw, but it's causing them a lot of problems. The common misconception is that ducks like bread. However, bread is not a part of a bird's natural diet, and can actually be damaging to their digestive system.

[00:16:47] Not to mention, the ducks will begin to rely on us This is not only unreliable, but it makes them prioritize our unhealthy food over the food that they've evolved to eat. This also brings them closer to other forms of unsafe human activity, such as roadways and possible hunting areas. This kind of dependency can even begin to change their natural migration system, which then alters their behaviors as a whole.

[00:17:17] This could upset their mating rituals, and in the long term, negatively impact their population numbers. So even though you think you're doing them a favor, you're actually hurting them in the long run. And although you may see ducks on a daily basis, some species need our help. Six duck species have been labeled as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List.

[00:17:41] If you want to help ducks and other native bird species, you should check out the American Bird Conservancy, National Audubon Society, and Florida Ornithological Society. Thank you so much for coming on this adventure with me as we explored the world of ducks. You can find the sources that we used for this podcast and links to organizations that we referenced at on wildlife. org. You can also email us with any questions at on wildlife. podcastatgmail. com. And you can follow us on Instagram at on underscore wildlife or on TikTok at On Wildlife. And don't forget to tune in next month for another awesome episode. And that's On Wildlife.

[00:18:31] Jess Avellino: You've been listening to On Wildlife with Alex Re. On Wildlife provides general educational information on various topics as a public service, which should not be construed as professional, financial, real estate, tax, or legal advice. These are our personal opinions only. Please refer to our full disclaimer policy on our website for full details.