Watching Ducks and Geese
Bucephala albeola, the bufflehead duck. Photo by John White, from the CalPhotos image database.
DB: This is Earth and Sky. In winter in North America, many species of ducks and geese gather in places where the water doesn’t freeze, and where food is plentiful.
JB: That makes winter an ideal time to birdwatch. On some lakes or coastal areas – in places as diverse as Chesapeake Bay and the inland marshes of California’s Central Valley – you can see ducks and geese by the thousands or even hundreds of thousands.
DB: For many species of waterfowl, winter is courting season. The males are out on the water, showing off their brightly-colored courtship plumage, flashing their wings and bobbing their heads. The courtship displays of mallard ducks can be quite a show. You may see the speckled brown female swimming with her neck stretched out low to the water – she’s saying she’d like some male attention. In response, the male mallards rear up out of the water, arch their heads, and whistle.
JB: New Mexico has one of the most famous winter aggregations of snow geese. It’s possible to watch for family groups – adults are usually white – their offspring, hatched the past summer, are a dusty gray. Count the number of young per pair of parents, and you can tell whether last summer was a good year for geese.
DB: We have more on our web site, including field guides and places to go bird-watching. Come to today’s show at earthsky.org. Special thanks today to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and to the U.S. Forest Service. We’re Block and Byrd for Earth and Sky.
The following individual was interviewed for today’s show. Our thanks to:
Dr. John Coluccy
Conservation Program
Biologist
Ducks Unlimited One
Waterfowl Way
Memphis, Tennessee
Winter Waterfowl Watching Festivals:
Bird-watching festivals are becoming increasingly popular nationwide. Most offer expert-guided bird-watching tours. Here’s just a sampling of the waterfowl-related festivals happening this February:
Duck Days
Alviso CA
408-262-5513
Wings over the Swamp
Folkston, GA
912-496-7836
Waterfowl Watch
Bismarck, AZ
501-865-2801
Tidelands Birding Festival
Georgetown, SC
843-234-1424
More Resources:
US Birding.com# is an informative, link-dense web site for bird watchers. Go to this place and click on US Hot Spots to identify (among other birding destinations) the locations in your state where waterfowl congregate in winter
Click on your state to get information on bird clubs in your area. Many clubs sponsor winter field trips to watch waterfowl.
Learn your ducks! Check out ““Ducks at a Distance,”“:http://www.npsc.nbs.gov/resource/tools/duckdist/duckdist.htm the classic waterfowl identification guide by Bob Hines of the USGS.
This site contains information to help you choose binoculars that are suitable for bird-watching.
More information on chosing binoculars suitable for bird-watching.
Website for Ducks Unlimited. Click on “waterfowling” and then “waterfowl ID” to see a portrait gallery of North American ducks and information about habits and behavior.
To find the nearest USFWS National Wildlife Refuge in your state, go to this web site and click on “refuges-addresses”
Read about the history of the National Wildlife Refuge system
Bellrose, Frank C. Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America. Harrisburg: Stackpole Books, 1981. The authoritative textbook. Madge, Steve and Hilary Burn.
Waterfowl: An Identification Guide to the Ducks, Geese and Swans of the World. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1988. Traditional field guide with detailed color illustrations, info on plumage patterns, habits, maps showing geographic distribution, more. Peterson, Roger Tory. Flashguides: Waterfowl. Houghton Mifflin, 1997 Todd, Frank S. Natural History of the Waterfowl. Ibis Publications, 1997. A coffee-table type book with gorgeous photos.
Walton, Richard K. North American Waterfowl (National Audubon Society Pocket Guide) Knopf, 1994.
Know Your Waterfowl: The Ducks, Geese, and Swans of North America. A CD-ROM produced by Axia Multimedia. A database of text, photos, video clips and sounds of 45 North American species. Designed to be used as a learning tool.
Author’s Notes:
Winter aggregations of waterfowl in North America can be as just as spectacular a sight as the vast herds of wildebeest and zebra on the plains of the Serengeti. Mike Haramis studies canvasback ducks on Chesapeake Bay, where waterfowl gather in such great numbers, he once saw a “raft” (gathering) of ducks that was a mile long and half a mile wide.
“Ducks and geese are big birds!” notes Haramis. “They can weigh a pound, a couple of pounds, many pounds . . .”-compared to just a few ounces for songbirds. So waterfowl choose places to winter where food is plentiful. Canvasbacks feed on the roots of wild celery, a water plant: widgeons eat wigeon grass, another water plant; teal eat the fine seeds of millet and bulrushes, and geese, the “cows” of the bird world, eat grasses. Other ducks eat shellfish and aquatic insects.
Wintering ducks also choose places where the water is not likely to freeze. By staying out on open water, and by gathering in large numbers, they are less vulnerable to predators such as coyotes or raptors. For additional protection from predation, many species feed by night (when their own prey-bottom dwelling invertebrates, may be more active) and rest by day, when the sun’s warm makes the metabolic work of digesting their meals go faster. Unlike songbirds, ducks don’t absolutely have to eat every day to survive-they can sit out a storm without feeding.
Wildlife refuges are a good place to see waterfowl in winter. “American’s system of National Wildlife Refuges, administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, were specifically set up to provide habitat for ducks, geese and swans-that was their original purpose,” says Dr. John Coluccy, the conservation program biologist for Ducks Unlimited. Coluccy notes that as farmland has expanded and as wetlands have been lost to development and other activities, the amount of winter habitat for waterfowl has shrunk. “So the birds are forced into smaller and smaller spaces,” he says.
One thing to be aware of if you’re out waterfowl watching: ducks and geese have excellent eyesight, and they tend to be wary, since they often have experience of being hunted by humans as well as wild predators. Wear camouflage colors, or use your vehicle as “bird blind”-as long as you stay inside, the birds won’t recognize you as a threat.
Additional Teacher Resources
Humane Society of the United States, Migratory Birds: Wild Ducks of North America
This report provides an informative overview of the natural history of a variety of wild ducks in North America. It covers description, diet, habitat, migration, populations, and courtship and reproduction.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Division of Migratory Bird Management: Snow Geese
This site provides links to a variety of Fish & Wildlife pages with information on Snow geese, including the birds natural history, photo images, frequently asked questions, educational materials, related sites, and press releases.
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Wildlife in Connecticut Informational Series: The Mallard
This page contains a brief fact sheet on the Mallard, including information on identification, range, reproduction, history, and “other interesting facts”. This is a good resource for introduction to duck species.
Smithsonian Institute, National Zoo: Fact Sheets: Bufflehead
This site provides an overview of the natural history, habitat, and courting and reproductive habits of this seemingly eccentric duck.
