Ducks are aquatic birds of the family Anatidae characterized by broad, flat bills and specialized webbed feet for swimming. These water birds are smaller, and they have shorter necks in comparison to their relatives (geese and swans). Because of their similar forms, ducks are also confused with unrelated birds like loons, gallinules, coots, and grebes.
Scientific Classification
| Animalia | |
| Chordata | |
| Aves | |
| Anseriformes | |
| Anatidae |
Scientific Classification
| Animalia | |
| Chordata | |
| Aves | |
| Anseriformes | |
| Anatidae |
List of Common Types of Duck Species
Aside fromthe hundreds of domestic duck breeds that are specifically developed for eggs,meat, or their exotic appearance, ornithologists and birders have officiallyrecognized over 120 wild duck species that are mentioned in the list below:
- African Black Duck
- African Pygmy-Goose
- American Black Duck
- American White-winged Scoter
- American Wigeon
- Andean Teal
- Asian White-Winged Scoter
- Auckland Islands Teal
- Australasian Shoveler
- Australian Shelduck
- AustralianWood Duck
- Baer’s Pochard
- Baikal Teal
- Barrow’s Goldeneye
- Black Scoter
- Black-Bellied Whistling Duck
- Black-headed Duck
- Blue Duck
- Blue-Billed Duck
- Blue-Winged Goose
- Blue-Winged Teal
- Brazilian Merganser
- Brazilian Teal
- Brown Teal
- Bufflehead
- Campbell Islands Teal
- Canvasback
- Cape Shoveler
- Cape Teal
- Chestnut Teal
- Chiloe Wigeon
- Cinnamon Teal
- Comb Duck
- Common Eider
- Common Goldeneye
- Common Merganser
- Common Pochard
- Common Scoter
- Common Shelduck
- Common Teal
- Cotton Pygmy-Goose
- Crested Duck
- Crested Shelduck
- Eastern Spot-Billed Duck
- Eaton’s Pintail
- Egyptian Goose
- Eurasian Wigeon
- Falcated Duck
- Falkland Steamerduck
- Ferruginous Duck
- Flightless Steamerduck
- Flying Steamerduck
- Freckled Duck
- Fulvous Whistling-Duck
- Gadwall
- Garganey
- Greater Scaup
- Green Pygmy-Goose
- Grey Teal
- Hardhead
- Harlequin Duck
- Hartlaub’s Duck
- Hawaiian Duck
- Hooded Merganser
- Hottentot Teal
- Kelp Goose
- King Eider
- Lake Duck
- Laysan Duck
- Lesser Scaup
- Lesser Whistling-Duck
- Long-Tailed Duck
- Maccoa Duck
- Madagascar Pochard
- Madagascar Teal
- Mallard
- Mandarin Duck
- Marbled Teal
- Masked Duck
- Meller’s Duck
- Mottled Duck
- Muscovy Duck
- Musk Duck
- New Zealand Scaup
- Northern Pintail
- Northern Shoveler
- Orinoco Goose
- Pacific Black Duck
- Paradise Shelduck
- Philippine Duck
- Pink-Eared Duck
- Pink-Headed Duck
- Plumed Whistling-Duck
- Puna Teal
- Radjah Shelduck
- Red Shoveler
- Red-Billed Duck
- Red-Breasted Merganser
- Red-Crested Pochard
- Redhead
- Ring-Necked Duck
- Ringed Teal
- Rosy-Billed Pochard
- Ruddy Duck
- Ruddy Shelduck
- Salvadori’s Teal
- Scaly-Sided Merganser
- Silver Teal
- Smew
- South African Shelduck
- Southern Pochard
- Spectacled Duck
- Spectacled Eider
- Spotted Whistling-Duck
- Steller’s Eider
- Sunda Teal
- Surf Scoter
- Torrent Duck
- Tufted Duck
- Velvet Scoter
- Wandering Whistling-Duck
- West Indian Whistling-Duck
- Western Spot-Billed Duck
- White-Backed Duck
- White-Cheeked Pintail
- White-Faced Whistling-duck
- White-Headed Duck
- White-Headed Steamerduck
- White-Winged Duck
- Wood Duck
- Yellow-Billed Duck
- Yellow-Billed Pintail
- Yellow-Billed Teal
Physical Description and Appearance
Ducks can beidentified based on these physical characteristics:
Size: Their size varies, ranging from thesmallest Eurasian teal measuring 20-30 cm (7.9-11.8 in) to the largest commoneider having a length of 50-71 cm (20-28 in).
Weight: The average weight of ducks rangesbetween 320-340 g (11-12 oz) and 1.92-2.21 kg (4.2-4.9 lb).
Body: Ducks usually have an elongated andbroad body, although the diving ducks have a more rounded shape.
Bill: They have broad, flat billscomprising comb-like serrated structures on the edges.
Legs: Their legs are scaled and well-developed,set far back on their bodies.
Wings: These aquatic birds arecharacterized by short, pointed, and extremely powerful wings.
Distribution
Ducks arefound all across the world. Its range includes sub-Antarctic islands such asthe Auckland Islands and South Georgia. Different duck species live on oceanicislands like Kerguelen, New Zealand, and Hawaii.
What kind of Habitats do Ducks live in
They typicallylive in marshes, wetlands, ponds, lakes, rivers, and oceans, where they seekout a safe natural environment with good food supply, especially during molting.
How long do they live
Ducks livefor about 2-12 years, depending on the type of species. The mallard, forexample, has an average lifespan of about 5-10 years in the wild.
What do they eat
Ducks areomnivorous water birds, and they feed on a wide range of food sources includingaquatic plants, grasses, insects, fish, worms, small mollusks, and amphibians.Few species, like the mergansers, are adapted to capture and eat large fish.
Behavior
- Dabblingducks take their food on land or the surface of the water, or by reaching asdeep as they can without completely submerging. Sea ducks and diving ducks, onthe other hand, feed by diving deep underwater.
- Tokeep themselves clean, ducks often preen themselves by pushing their heads and puttingtheir bills into the body.
- Theymake different types of calls, including cooing, whistling, grunting, andyodeling. Scaup, for example, makes a call that sounds like ‘scaup’ whereas themallard makes the typical ‘quack’ sound and another rough noise called the‘breeeeze’.
- Manyduck species, including the mallard, migrate during the winter months to somewherewarmer.
Adaptations
- Duckspossess an oily coating that keeps water from settling in their feathers,helping them in staying dry and keeping themselves warm.
- Theirwebbed feet, designed like paddles, provide more surface area to push againstthe water and help them swim.
- Thecomb-like structure, called pecten, present along the edge of their beak isadapted to hold slippery food and to preen feathers.
- Theyhave specialized flat beak suitable for searching insect larvae and pullingsmall mollusks, worms, and waterweed out of the mud.
How do they Reproduce and Mate
Ducks aremonogamous, meaning they form pairs with one partner at a time and thepartnership lasts for one year. Larger and sedentary species like the torrentduck, however, stay in pairs for many years.
Most ducksmate once a year, usually in spring, summer, or rainy seasons. Before breeding,the female builds a nest, and, after her eggs hatch, she leads her ducklings towater. The eggs usually hatch about 28-35 days after the beginning ofincubation.
The mothertakes care of her baby ducks, but she may abandon some of her ducklings if theyhave sickness and are not prospering.
What do the Baby Ducks look like
Baby duckshatch from eggs with their eyes open and have a warm layer of thin and delicatefeathers. The ducklings are not entirely dependent on their mother for food andcan leave their nest within a few hours of hatching.
Conservation
The IUCNSpecies Survival Commission has a duck specialist group that works onmonitoring, conservation, research, and management of duck populations in thewild.
Duck-FAQs
1. Can ducks fly?
Not allducks can fly. For example, three steamer duck species are flightless. They runacross water and thrash their wings like the paddle wheels of a steamboat.
2. Do ducks have teeth?
Ducks do nothave teeth, but their bills have serrated edges (called pecten) that look liketeeth.
3. What do baby ducks eat?
Ducklingsfeed on seagrass, weeds, and waterside plants.
4. What is a group of ducks called?
A flock,brace, team, raft, or paddling
5. What is a baby duck called?
A duckling
6. What is a female duck called?
A hen
7. What is a male duck called?
A drake
Interesting Facts
- Contrary to popular belief, researchers have proven that duck quacks do echo.
- Among the numerous predators that ducks have, large fish like the European pike and North American musky catch them on the water. Ducks in flight are preyed upon by the peregrine falcon.
- Donald Duck, Howard the Duck, and Daffy Duck are some of the notable duck characters in the world of animation and fiction.
