Ducks are omnivorous birds, with fish as an integral component of their diets. Both domestic and wild duck species can catch fish from the water to add variety to their meals. Mergansers – distinguished by narrow bills replete with teeth – feed regularly on fish.
Common Merganser
The Common Merganser is a small seaduck that specializes in eating fish. Their serrated bills are specially designed to capture and hold onto prey such as fish. Although mollusks, crustaceans, amphibians, frogs, and worms are their primary aquatic food sources, they occasionally consume plant material!
These birds are expert diving predators, capable of hunting underwater using both their eyesight and an audible “kragagagagaga” call to locate prey up to 1 foot long. Preferring slow-swimming smaller fish as food sources but equally adept at taking trout from shallow waters and searching deep lakes for the giant game, raptors like this bird are skilled diving predators.
Males can be distinguished from their counterparts with a black head, white crest, pearl gray body coloration, and pearl gray skin; females and immatures typically display dull grayish brown complexions.
Opossums nest in large trees, crevices in rocks, tree roots or undercut banks – and sometimes buildings. Each summer, they lay 9 to 12 eggs, which hatch after 7-10 days and can swim immediately upon hatching; their mothers care for the young until they are old enough to hunt independently.
After the breeding season is complete, these ducks migrate short to medium distances in small groups. Males do not molt; therefore, they leave the breeding site first and head towards large lakes, bays, or rivers with open water bodies such as lakes or rivers for open water areas such as lakes, bays, rivers, etc. Conversely, females remain close to the nest during incubation but eventually move with their brood to find suitable molting locations after giving birth.
Populations have decreased across the southeastern United States due to habitat loss since the 1970s. Urbanization and human civilization have reduced bird nesting sites; nest boxes can help offset this trend.
These ducks can often be found gliding along bodies of water or flying low over bodies of water; however, when migrating between locations or during migration, they may rise higher up into the sky. Individual birds or flocks of up to 75 individuals can form.
The Common Merganser is one of New Hampshire’s most plentiful waterfowl species, and its population has increased throughout the Northeastern US due to warmer winters with reduced snow cover, allowing these birds to find more suitable habitats.
Bufflehead
Buffleheads are one of the most striking diving duck species, and their relative rarity makes them a birder’s favorite. You can find these exceptional divers across North American coastal waters and some inland lakes.
Like many birds of their kind, buffleheads are monogamous and form long-term pairs. Nesting sites for this bird species typically include aspens or poplar trees near water; an average clutch comprises seven to 11 eggs, which take 30 days for incubation. Once the brood hatches, males will leave to molt while females remain with their young, leading them toward water sources.
These ducks are highly active during the day, often seen soaring and diving for food or swimming through bodies of water that cover large coastal areas. When seen on land, they usually follow their brood from one pond to another or seek freshwater sources so their chicks can drink. During winter, they prefer slow-moving bodies of water with broad coastal regions. When not swimming, they spend most of their time resting or drinking from large bodies of water nearby – although resting occasionally may occur on land too. They are rarely seen walking on the ground unless they follow their brood from one pond to another or find fresh water for their chicks to drink.
Buffleheads in the wild feed on seeds, aquatic plants, and small animals found throughout fresh and saltwater environments, depending on what’s available to them. Freshwater environments might yield clams, snails, insects, or fish eggs, while seawater provides shrimp, crabs, shellfish, and small fish to devour.
Buffleheads face several threats, such as habitat degradation and unrestricted hunting. Although their numbers declined substantially early in the 20th century, today, their populations appear relatively stable; therefore, they are classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as Least Concern and protected in many areas.
While it is illegal to keep this species captive, zoological settings often feature them as famous visitors and great ambassadors for aquatic environments. Unfortunately, however, they don’t make great pets as their migratory lifestyle requires special diets to thrive, thus making pet keeping difficult.
Wood Duck
The Wood Duck (Carolina Duck, Acorn Duck, Swamp Duck, or Summer Duck) is a medium-sized waterfowl species in North America. Their beaks have evolved for an action called dabbling that uses pecking at the surface of water to filter out insects and seeds, while their sharp claws enable them to climb trees for perching purposes – adaptations that allow Wood Ducks to avoid predation as part of living in densely wooded wetland habitats. Historically, these birds were hunted almost to extinction, but hunting restrictions and wildlife management practices have enabled their populations to recover since.
The gorgeous plumage of this waterfowl species includes chestnut, tan, and iridescent green hues that make it one of the world’s most distinctive waterfowl species. Male heads feature an iridescent green head with white bands and red bills; females feature brownish faces. Short and broad wings enable swift flight; this allows it to lay 15 creamy-colored eggs that she incubates for 25-37 days before the young ducklings leave by jumping from its rim onto the ground or water below.
Wood Ducks in the United States are generally migratory birds, though some populations in the South may remain permanent residents. Wood Ducks prefer forested wetland areas that offer open water and vegetative cover, such as lakes, ponds, slow-moving rivers, swamps, and marshes in which large trees provide shady shelter from sunlight.
The Wood Duck is an increasingly sought-after target among duck hunters. Found throughout the U.S. but most plentiful in the northeast region, this bird prefers shallow lakes, ponds, and swamps as well as slow-moving rivers and streams with trees overhanging them and open marshes where trees overhang them, eating various plant foods including seeds, nuts, grains as well as aquatic vegetation and insects for sustenance.
Mallard
The Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), is a dabbling duck with a long neck, rounded head, and webbed feet. This species demonstrates an exceptional degree of sexual dimorphism; males (drakes) stand out remarkably. Their green heads with narrow white rings around their necks and dark chestnut breasts surrounded by wide belts of black or gray are instantly recognizable, while their bodies primarily display shades of brown mottling over time.
Male mallards in the wild tend to quack aggressively as they patrol their territory and protect nests, while simultaneously aggressively fighting off rivals – sometimes pulling feathers out or skin away during fights with opponents! Furthermore, males typically fight more than females during breeding season.
Mallard duck hens may lay up to 12 eggs per clutch over springtime, usually every one or two days. As their eggs are vulnerable to predators, the female will often cover them with leaves or vegetation to conceal them from predators. She may also guard her nest area, though intruders may still get through and reach her eggs.
Mallards are omnivorous birds whose diet is mainly determined by habitat type and food availability. You’re most likely to spot them in wetlands with abundant emergent and submerged vegetation and aquatic invertebrates such as gastropods, crustaceans, worms, seeds, or plant matter – rather than cultivar grains like other waterfowl species! Mallards do not prefer artificial food sources like these but instead prefer natural sources that cater to them as much.
Captive mallards may occasionally sport wild-type plumage, though more commonly they are kept domesticated forms. Domestic versions generally have higher protein and fat contents than their wild cousins; Pekin duck breast meat features high levels of saturated fatty acids compared with other breeds; they also contain less polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), which are essential for human health.
Mallard ducks can be found throughout urban and suburban parks, backyard ponds, and agricultural fields. Additionally, these aquatic birds enjoy eating bird seed from feeders specifically tailored for ducks – one way you could encourage their presence is to provide feeders with blends targeted explicitly toward them.
