Duck: 11 Fun Facts

The 12 Most Beautiful Ducks in The World

 by 4 Ever Green. 

       A duck is a web-footed bird, related to the goose and the swan. It is everywhere considered a table delicacy, especially a number of the wild varieties, and therefore within reasonable limits it is the legitimate prey of sportsmen. 

11 Fun Facts About Ducks:

1. Game laws protect it except during a short season in the autumn.
2. The species can be classed as deep sea ducks, which often obtain their food by diving to a great depth, and river ducks, which remain in shallow water.
3. Some species are migratory, going northward in summer to their breeding places.
4. The duck's food is partly vegetable, partly animal.
5. Ducks have short, thick bodies, covered with thick feathers, under which is a fine, soft down.
6. In some varieties the feathers are beautifully colored. 
7. The bill is broad and flat, with toothed edges, for holding or straining food. 
8. The head is rather large; the neck, long and gracefully curved, yet much shorter than the neck of the goose or swan. 
9. The feathers are well oiled from glands situated ahead of the tail, and are therefore waterproof. 
10. A peculiar characteristic of the short legs is that they are located back of the center of the body; this causes a strange movement in walking, sometimes called a "waddle."
11. The food of the wild ducks consists largely of insects, minnows, small frogs, grain, grasses, etc.

More Types of Ducks:

       The common mallard, or wild duck, is the original of the domestic duck. In its wild state the male is characterized by the deep green plumage of the head and neck, by a white collar separating the green from the dark chestnut of the lower part of the neck and by having the four middle feathers of the tail recurved. Some tame ducks have nearly the same plumage as the wild ones; others vary greatly, being generally duller or pure white, but all the males have the four recurved tail feathers. There are several favorite varieties of the domestic duck, those of Normandy and Picardy in France and the Aylesbury ducks in England, being remarkable for their great size!

More About Ducks on The Web:

• Duck Army Invades China!
• Ducks Protect Vineyards in South Africa and Another Quack Squad Rescue