Ducking And Diving

There’s more to the average duck than meets the eye, as Pip Webster reveals.

The number of ducks to be seen on our waterways increases dramatically with the arrival of winter migrants.

They are divided by their feeding behaviour into either ‘dabbling’ or ‘diving’ ducks, and modern molecular analysis has shown that these sub-divisions are quite distinct, convergent evolution producing the ‘duck’ appearance in two different groups of waterfowl.

Mallards, our most common British duck, are dabbling ducks – shallow water birds that feed primarily along the surface or by tipping headfirst into the water. The inside of their beaks have tiny rows of plates (lamellae) through which they can filter the water, trapping food – you have probably noticed the roughness of a mallard’s beak if you have been nipped by one when it takes bread from your fingers.

Dabbling ducks are typically omnivorous, eating plant matter, insects and worms. They dive infrequently – often just to avoid predators – and are equally happy grazing on the land. They tend to have flat, broad beaks and float high on the water with their tail held clear while swimming. When taking flight they spring into the air rather than pattering across the water.