Is the Tufted Duck a sea duck or a river duck?

The duck belongs to the group of diving ducks. They spend most of their time on the pond. They find their main food in lakes and rivers. Ducks dive well. They are completely immersed in water, reaching a depth of 6 m. They swim quickly under water. They rarely go ashore. The duck does not fly to fields with cereal plants, as other river ducks do.

Duck blacken

For their habitat, they choose reservoirs with dense vegetation. They hide from danger in reeds and reeds and build nests. Sometimes you can see a patch of dry vegetation moving through the water. There is a nest with a duck on it. What birds belong to the species of duck? What are their main characteristics?

About birds called tufted duck

The appearance of the bird is expressive: there is a plume of feathers on the head, a thin high neck, and a low landing in the water. The feather color is dark brown with a gray belly. The beak is long and elongated. The sea duck is similar to the mallard and teal.

The bird is distributed in the arctic and subarctic latitudes of Eurasia. The most common duck found in Russia and Belarus is the black duck, a photo of which adorns the stands of hunting clubs. The species is a commercial species and is actively hunted in the spring and autumn.

Crested duck

Pink-headed duck

According to official data, she is on the verge of extinction. Presumably the remaining individuals live in the impenetrable swamps of Myanmar. The last proof of existence dates back to 1945.

They were distributed in India, Bangladesh, and northern Myanmar.

Pink-headed duck

The duck is medium in size, with a long beak and neck and an atypical head shape. The color of males is more contrasting than that of females.

Nesting sites are built in swamps and overgrown ponds in the jungle. Birds lay 6-7 spherical eggs. They feed on plants and living organisms.

What is the difference between a male and a female?

The male has a black head, neck and chest, white sides and belly. During the mating season, the northern duck is covered with feathers with a green tint on its head. A diving bird enters the surface at an angle of 45°.

The female is dark brown in color, the sides are slightly lighter than the rest of the body. There is a white spot at the base of the beak. A white stripe stretches from the base of the beak to the ear area. The weight of the female reaches up to 950 g, in the male it ranges from 750-1200 g.

Black Crested in flight

Ducks of the genus Pochard

This genus includes:

Ornithological scientists have not fully studied the behavior of some species of these birds.

Red-nosed Pochard

The red-nosed duck is a strong and large bird.

The steppe zone and semi-deserts located from the Mediterranean Sea to the east of Turkmenistan are a favorite nesting place for birds.

In the Russian Federation, habitats are located in the following areas:

Volga region;
Mordovia;
Altai Territory;
Western Siberia.

Red ducks can fly long distances. Despite the fact that they fly quickly and easily, they take off from the water surface awkwardly and with a lot of noise.

While above the water, red-nosed ducks fly as close to the surface as possible. The flight above the earth takes place high in the sky.

Red-nosed fish can stay on the shore for a long time and move quickly on the ground. Like dabbling ducks, they have a high carriage when swimming.

The red-nosed duck is a strong and large bird

They do not dive in search of food, but lower their heads into the water , and their paws and tail rise perpendicularly above the reservoir. After 2 years, the duck is considered sexually mature.

During the mating season, the drake has a beautiful coloration:

the head and part of the neck acquire an ocher-red color;
beak and paws – red-pink;
lower part of the neck, belly – black;
back – brown-gray;
the head is decorated with a fluffy crest.

The duck's "outfit" is less bright. Trying to interest her, the drake fluffs up the feathers on his head, sticks out his chest, whistles, and walks around her.

Red-nosed ducks nest on grassy islands in the center of rivers and lakes, in thickets near the shore, and on last year's reed heaps.

The female lays an average of 6-9 olive-colored eggs with a gray or brown tint and incubates them for 28 days. These are very cautious birds that, in case of any danger, leave the nest with the clutch.

After approximately 4 weeks, the chicks appear.

Red-eyed Pochard

This duck got its name from the scarlet color of its iris. Another name for the bird – southern – reflects the geography of its habitat.

The duck has impressive dimensions for wild individuals:

the weight of the drake reaches up to 1.2 kg, females - 1.0-1.2 kg;
wing size – 240-280 mm;
beak length – 44-54 mm.

Habitat areas:

steppes of Central Asia;
north of the Caspian Sea.

Sometimes found in reservoirs:

Kuban;
Volga-Ural region;
Bashkiria;
Northern part of Tajikistan.

These are migratory birds.

They return to nesting sites in April. At this time, pairs are actively formed. During the mating season, the drake is easily distinguished by its bright red head, which appears very large due to the enlarged feathers on the back of the head.

Birds nest in colonies. After laying the egg, the female incubates it. Drakes unite in flocks. Molting begins in June.

Flight to warmer regions begins in September-October.

The red-eyed duck prefers plant foods, so its meat does not have a specific fishy taste.

Pampas dive

Lives in the south of South America. On the eve of winter, it flies to the south of Argentina, Brazil or Bolivia.

It can be seen in the zoo; its beautiful coloring provides special interest:

the back and wings are ash-blue, with a white stripe along the edges of the wings;
belly – light gray;
head and chest are black.

The pampas duck lives in shallow reservoirs and coastal sea waters. It builds nests in the depths of vegetation, on reed creases. The duck lays 10-12 eggs and incubates on its own for 27-29 days.

The pampas duck feeds mainly on plant foods that grow at the bottom of reservoirs and in the coastal zone. While foraging, their head and upper body are immersed in water, while their paws and tail remain on the surface.

What do nests look like and where do they nest?

The structure of the nest depends on the type of ducks that blacken. The sea duck builds a depression in the bud, which is lined with down. Tufted duck prefers reed and coastal areas. She also looks for depressions or digs them out with her paws. The materials used to build a bird's nest are dry grass and small reed stems.

The clutch consists of 6-11 large oval eggs. The shell has a light brown tint, closer to the gray spectrum. The sea duck's egg surface hue is closer to olive color. The bird lays eggs in late May early June. Hatching time is up to 28 days.

Migrations

The Tufted Duck is a migratory, transit-migratory bird species. They arrive from warm countries in late March and early April. In water bodies of the temperate zone they appear when there is no longer ice on the surface of the water. At the end of May, ducks build nests and begin to hatch chicks. After a month, the ducklings hatch from the eggs. In the second month of life they can already fly.

All ducks are preparing for migration in September. First, the migrations begin. They precede migration to wintering grounds. Autumn departure occurs at the end of October, beginning of November. The blackbird winters in large flocks of several thousand birds in the subtropical zone, that is, on the coasts of France, Holland, Belgium, the British Isles, as well as on the coasts of the Black, Mediterranean, Caspian Sea and even in North Africa. A small percentage of ducks remain for the winter in the temperate zone of Eurasia.

Where does the tufted duck live?

The duck duck is widespread in areas with a distinct temperate climate. Prefers to settle on the border of a watershed with abundant vegetation along the banks.

Bird habitat:

North of Russia;
coast of France;
in Finland;
in the Aleutian Islands, Gotland;
in the south of Great Britain;
in South Florida;
on the Atlantic coast.

Duck blacken

Habitat

The Tufted Duck is a waterfowl and diving bird. Such ducks settle near lakes, rivers, ponds, and artificial reservoirs with fresh water. Avoid swamps and river floodplains. This migratory bird winters in warm regions. In spring it flies to various regions of the temperate zone of Eurasia. Numerous flocks of ducks have been spotted in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia.

Birds settle in different types of water bodies, but prefer fishery ponds where black-headed gulls live. Ducks choose deep lakes and reservoirs with an abundance of fish, insects, and surface and coastal vegetation.

Types of crested ducks and their differences

Breeds of wild ducks are divided by habitat and appearance. The sea duck looks more like a mallard. The plume consists of a narrow strip running along the head. The Tufted Duck is distinguished by its most luxuriant hair. Her voice is strong up to 529Kb and can be heard far away. The northern duck subspecies has a short neck, a dense body and a greenish tint of feathers on the head. The male has white sides.

Marbled teal

Small duck, drake plumage and females are similar . The only difference is the presence of a small crest on the male’s head. Gray feathers predominate in color; spots of a lighter tone are visible on the back.

The marbled teal lives only in deserts. It nests in shallow, heavily overgrown brackish water bodies with reeds. It builds its nest in a dry place, surrounded on all sides by grass or bushes.

Ducks lay 7-12 eggs; they do this from late May to early July. Marbled teals are adapted to a secretive lifestyle and gather in small flocks. They feed on plant and animal foods.

Marbled teal

They fly quickly, usually in a straight path.

Duck crested hunting species

The Tufted Duck is listed in the Red Book section of the wild ducks of Russia; a photo of the bird adorns the emblem of the annual conference of ecologists. This subspecies is considered rare and requires protection. The remaining species of ducks are considered to be game species. However, the number of shooting for scaup is strictly regulated. The number of shooting permits is adjusted every year.

Reproduction

Wild ducks begin laying eggs in the spring, from April to May. The female brings one egg per day, after 8-12 eggs are collected, the female sits on the nest and waits for the ducklings to appear. Incubation lasts on average 25-30 days, ducklings hatch almost simultaneously.

Basically, all species of wild ducks nest alone, making their nests on the ground. Only mandarin ducks, mergansers and goldeneyes nest in tree hollows, shelducks fly in burrows, and sardines bury their eggs in the ground. During the nesting period, the northern common eider duck lives in colonies of up to one hundred individuals.

Almost all types of ducks can lay eggs in other people’s nests and, often, females hatch both their own and other people’s eggs. Females take care of the offspring, and only among the Shelduck and Shelduck do males help care for the chicks.

Breeding birds at home

The black duck takes root well at home. Birds can be raised in captivity, provided that appropriate conditions are created. Blacklings love water; the farm should have a pond up to 1.5 m deep.

The banks of reservoirs should be covered with pebbles and gravel. This is necessary to build a bird's nest. It is desirable that the territory have bushes or reed thickets along the banks of the reservoir. This is a necessary condition for the bird to rest.

The bird is demanding on nutrition. Its diet should contain food of animal origin: earthworms, small fish, snails, mussels, macomas, heartworms, hydrobia. As additives, corn and wheat are also worth adding green feed. Ducks are migratory, so the aviary with ducks must have a mesh roof.

Listen to the bird's voice
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Nutrition

The diet of this bird consists of aquatic plants, fish, insects, small aquatic animals - crustaceans and mollusks, which it obtains from the water and from the bottom of reservoirs. What do wild ducks eat in winter and early spring, when there is ice and it is difficult to get food from the water? At this time, ducks feed on the stems and seeds of coastal plants. In the warm season, fruits and berries from shrubs and trees growing near ponds are added to the menu.

Ducks can be called orderlies of reservoirs. Due to the fact that birds eat mosquito larvae in large quantities, this significantly reduces the reproduction of insects.

Distribution[edit | edit code]

Area[edit | edit code]

The sea duck is the most northern species of the genus of sea ducks, nesting in the subarctic and arctic latitudes of Eurasia and North America. In Scandinavia it rises to approximately the 70th parallel, being absent only in the northernmost part of the peninsula. In the Russian north it is found west of the Urals to the coast of the Arctic Ocean, in Yamal up to 70° N. sh., on the Gydan Peninsula up to 71° N. sh., on Taimyr up to 74° N. sh., east to the mouth of the Kolyma and the southern foot of the Anadyr Range to 71° N. w. On the American continent it nests in Alaska to Kotzebue Bay, east to the sea coast. The southern border of the nesting range covers the forest-tundra and the northern border of the taiga. Outside the continents, it lives in Iceland, on the Åland, Komandorsky, Kuril, Aleutian Islands, on Sakhalin, the islands of Öland and Gotland.[8][9]

Habitats[edit | edit code]

During the breeding season, it inhabits the shrub tundra, forest-tundra and northern taiga, where it is found on various flowing bodies of water with overgrown banks, from small shallow swamps and rivers to large lakes. In Scandinavia it nests along a narrow birch belt.[3] Often found in the company of other northern ducks - tufted duck, black duck ( Melanitta nigra

), scoter[10], long-tailed duck, and in America, the lesser tufted duck.[11] Foraging biotope - reservoirs rich in mollusks and vegetation with a depth of no more than 6 m.[2]

Migration[edit | edit code]

Mainly a migratory bird, it winters on the sea coasts of temperate latitudes, including the Black, Azov and Caspian Seas, off southern Sakhalin.[4] During autumn migration, flocks of males and females split up - as a rule, drakes choose more northern latitudes.[2] Small sedentary populations are noted along the southern coast of Alaska and in southwestern Iceland. In winter, it stays at sea close to the coast, where the depth does not exceed 10 m, preferring narrow bays, lagoons and estuaries. Often found near wastewater outlets.[2] Sometimes it flies into river mouths and nearby freshwater lakes. Rarely found in inland waters far from coasts.[4] Young birds that have not reached sexual maturity often remain in wintering areas throughout the summer.

Food[edit | edit code]

The diet is mixed and consists of approximately equal parts plant and animal feed. An important role, especially in winter, is played by shellfish - mussels, macomas ( Macoma

), heartweed (
Cardium
), hydrobia (
Hydrobia
)[2], shutter (
Valvata
), pearl barley (
Unio
), toothless (
Anodonta
), etc.[4] In addition, it feeds on crustaceans, larvae of aquatic insects, small fish, earthworms, as well as vegetative parts (rhizomes, leaves and seeds) of aquatic plants.

INTERESTING FACTS, INFORMATION…

The wings of the Tufted Duck make a whistling sound during flight.
Flocks of Tufted Ducks can number more than 1,000 ducks.
Black ducks readily nest in gull colonies.
The wings of ducklings are well adapted for diving. They are relatively short and sharp, making it difficult for birds to stay in the air on them. The duck must make a long acceleration, and it can only gain speed by quickly flapping its wings.
During the mating dance, the yellow color of the drake's eyes becomes even more expressive.
The duck has been nesting in the center of Europe since the end of the 18th century.

Notes[edit | edit code]

↑ Boehme R.L., Flint V.E.
Five-language dictionary of animal names. Birds. Latin, Russian, English, German, French / Under general. ed. acad. V. E. Sokolova. - M.: Russian language, RUSSO, 1994. - P. 32. - 2030 copies. — ISBN 5-200-00643-0.
↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6
Greater Scaup (English).
BirdLife Species Factsheet
. BirdLife International. Access date: October 21, 2008. Archived March 20, 2012.
↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 John Gooders, Trevor Boyer.
Ducks of Britain and the Northern Hemisphere. - London: Collins & Brown, 1997. - pp. 102-105. — 176 p. — ISBN 1855855704.
↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 G. Dementyev, N. Gladkov.
Birds of the Soviet Union. - Soviet Science, 1953. - T. 4. - P. 507-513.
↑ Sea sage – Aythya marila (undefined)
. Website “Waterfowl and gulls of the Moscow region”. Access date: October 20, 2008.
↑ R. L. Boehme, V. L. Dinets, V. E. Flint, A. E. Cherenkov.
Birds. Encyclopedia of Russian nature. - Moscow: ABF, 1997. - 430 p. — ISBN 5-87484-045-1.
↑ Killian Mullarney, Lars Svensson, Dan Zetterström, & Peter J. Grant.
Birds of Europe = Birds of Europe. - Paperback. - United States: Princeton University Press, 2000. - P. 56. - 400 p. — ISBN 978-0-691-05054-6.
↑ L. S. Stepanyan.
Abstract of the ornithological fauna of Russia and adjacent territories. - Moscow: Akademkniga, 2003. - 808 p. — ISBN 5-94628-093-7.
↑ E. A. Nazarenko, S. A. Bessonov.
Aythya marila (Linnaeus, 1761) – Sea duck
(undefined)
.
Vertebrates of Russia: a review
. Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences named after. A. N. Severtsova. Access date: October 20, 2008.
↑ A.V. Kretschmar.
Biology of birds. Birds of Western Taimyr. - M.; L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1966. - P. 185-312.
↑ Michael A. Fournier, James E. Hines.
Breeding Ecology of Sympatric Greater and Lesser. Scaup (Aythya marila and Aythya affinis) in the Subarctic Northwest Territories // Arctic. - 2001. - T. 54, No. 4. - P. 444-456.
↑ Paul Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin, Darryl Wheye.
The Birder's Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. - New York: Fireside, 1988. - 785 p. — ISBN 0671659898.

Distribution of Australian scaup.

The Australian duck is endemic to southwest (Murray-Darling Basin) eastern Australia and Tasmania. Some isolated populations of ducks live on the coast of Vanuatu. Probably breeds in East Timor.

Conservation status of the Australian scaup.

Australian ducks are not experiencing any major threats to their numbers. Although there has been a decline in duck numbers in the twentieth century, since the turn of the century the most significant threats have disappeared and numbers remain stable at between 200,000 and 700,000 individuals. The highest concentrations of Australian ducks are around lakes in west and central Queensland. In Australia, the most important duck concentration areas are around lakes during periods of drought. Mandora Swamp in South Australia is also a gathering place for ducks when there is no rain. The number of birds in Tasmania is also stable. Outside of Australia in New Zealand and New Guinea, the distribution of the Australian duck is very sparse. There is a threat of habitat change due to drainage of wetlands in the breeding areas of the Australian duck.

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Reproduction[edit | edit code]

The breeding season begins at the end of May - beginning of June, when the ground is cleared of snow.[2] Pairs are often formed even before arriving at the nesting sites, however, since males usually spend the winter separately, they begin mating upon arrival.[3] During the courtship process, drakes behave demonstratively - they swim near the ducks, fluffing their feathers and periodically throwing their heads back. At the same time, the males “coo”—they emit a hoarse nasal whistle.[4] Black ducks do not form independent colonies, but sometimes nest in small free groups and not far from colonies of gulls and terns.

The nest is a depression in the ground, lined with last year's grass and down, and is usually located in a dry place among hummocks and not far from water, in sedge thickets, in the shade of bushes or a rocky crevice. Less commonly, the nest is made directly on the water under the overhanging branches of a willow, and in this case it looks like a tall pile of grass with a tray. The diameter of the nest is 25-30 cm, height up to 17 cm and above.[4] The clutch consists of 8-11 dirty olive eggs, laid alternately at daily intervals.[3] Only the female incubates and cares for the offspring, while the male migrates during the molting period and gathers in same-sex flocks. The incubation period is 26-28 days, down-covered chicks appear synchronously within 24 hours.[3][4] The first 2 weeks are a particularly difficult period for the brood: about a third of the chicks die due to the activity of predators, mainly seagulls. 35 - 42 years after hatching, the chicks acquire the ability to fly.[12] Autumn departure occurs in mid-August.