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River and Pond Ducks
Images coming soon.
The hind toe of these ducks is without a flap, or lobe, and the front of the foot is furnished with transverse scales, which are the two features of these birds which have led scientists to separate them into a distinct subfamily. But to even the untrained eye other peculiarities are also noticeable. The feet of these ducks are smaller than those of the sea-ducks, the toes and their webs naturally not being so highly developed, owing to the calmer waters on which they live; although some few species do associate with their sea-loving kin. They do not dive to pursue food like the mergansers and sea ducks, but nibble at the aquatic plants they live among, and dabble with their bills on the surface of the water for particles of animal matter; or, with head immersed and tail in air, probe the bottom of shallow waters for small mollusks, crustaceans, and roots of plants. Their bill acts as a sieve or strainer. From the more dainty character of their food, their flesh is superior. These drakes undergo a double moult; generally the sexes are distinct in color; the young resemble the female; but the wingmarkings, in which a brilliant speculum is usually conspicuous, are the same in both sexes. When the males are not polygamous, they devote themselves to one mate, leaving the entire care of the young, however, to her. The speed of these ducks on the wing has been estimated anywhere from one hundred to a hundred and sixty miles an hour.
Mallard Duck.
Black or Dusky Duck.
Gadwall, or Gray Duck.
Baldpate, or Widgeon.
Green-winged Teal.
Blue-winged Teal.
Shoveler.
Pin-tail.
Wood Duck.