F/ 6.0, 1/500, ISO 200.
Mallard
What is a duck’s favorite TV show ?
The feather forecast !
Interesting Fact: Mallard pairs are generally monogamous, but paired males pursue females other than their mates. So-called “extra-pair copulations” are common among birds and in many species are consensual, but male Mallards often force these copulations, with several males chasing a single female and then mating with her. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Mallard/lifehistory )
F/ 6.3, 1/500, ISO 280.
Northern Pintail Duck
Why did the bride refuse to get married in an igloo?
She got cold feet.
Interesting Fact: The Northern Pintail is among the earliest nesting ducks in North America, beginning shortly after ice-out in many northern areas. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pintail/lifehistory )
F/5.3, 1/160, ISO 800.
Common Merganser
What did the parrot say when he saw a duck?
Polly want a quacker!
Interesting Fact: Common Mergansers are sometimes called sawbills, fish ducks, or goosanders. The word “merganser” comes from the Latin and roughly translates to “plunging goose”—a good name for this very large and often submerged duck. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Merganser/lifehistory )
F/8.0, 1/2000, ISO 800.
Common Merganser
Duck Week Last Day
A duck walks into a bar and says to the bar tender “I’ll have a beer”.
The bartender says “Hey! where did you come from?”
The duck says “I’m working the construction site across the street”.
And the bartender says, “Well why are you working construction when you could be making millions in the circus?”
And the duck said “What would the circus want with a brick laying duck?”
Interesting Fact: You may see gulls trailing flocks of foraging Common Mergansers. They wait for the ducks to come to the surface and then try to steal their prey rather than fishing on their own. Occasionally even a Bald Eagle will try to steal a fish from a merganser. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Merganser/lifehistory )
F/ 6.3, 1/400, ISO 1600.
Hooded Mergansers
Duck Week Continues!
A circus owner walked into a bar to see everyone crowded about a table watching a little show. On the table was an upside down pot and a duck tap dancing on it. The circus owner was so impressed that he offered to buy the duck from its owner. After some wheeling and dealing, they settled for $10,000 for the duck and the pot. Three days later the circus owner runs back to the bar in anger, “Your duck is a ripoff! I put him on the pot before a whole audience, and he didn’t dance a single step!” “So?” asked the ducks former owner, “did you remember to light the candle under the pot?”
Interesting Fact: Along with Wood Ducks and other cavity-nesting ducks, Hooded Mergansers often lay their eggs in other females’ nests. This is called “brood parasitism” and is similar to the practice of Brown-headed Cowbirds, except that the ducks only lay eggs in nests of their own species. Female Hooded Mergansers can lay up to about 13 eggs in a clutch, but nests have been found with up to 44 eggs in them. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/lifehistory )
F/ 9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.
Ruddy Duck
Duck Week Continues!
A duck walks into a bar, sits down at the barstool, and waits for the bartender. The bartender walks up, hands the duck a menu, waits a while, and comes back to take his order. “What’ll it be?” the bartender says.
The duck says, “I think I’ll have the grapes.”
“Well, I’m sorry sir, but this is a bar, we don’t serve grapes here. Now, I’ll let you look a bit longer and wave when you know what you want.”
The duck looks at the menu, then waves the bartender down.
“Ok, you got your order?” The duck nods, saying, “I’ll think I’ll have the grapes.”
The bartender, kind of peeved from the duck, says, “Look Mac, we don’t have any grapes here. This is a bar. We don’t serve grapes, so what will you have?!”
The duck looks at him in the eyes and says, “I’ll have the grapes.”
The bartender, enraged, shouts, “If you ask for the grapes one more time I’m going to nail your feathered a** to the barstool!!” The bartender cools off a bit. “Now what will you get?!”
“Got any nails?”
“OF COURSE WE DON’T HAVE ANY NAILS! WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS IS? A HARDWARE STORE?”
“Good, got any grapes?”
Interesting Fact: Ruddy Ducks get harassed by Horned Grebes, Pied-billed Grebes, and American Coots during the breeding season. The grebes sometimes attack Ruddy Ducks from below the water, a behavior known as “submarining.” ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruddy_Duck/lifehistory )
F/ 7.1, 1/1600, ISO 400.
Common Merganser ( Female )
Mute Swan
Duck Week Continues!
What do baby swans dance to?
Cygnet-ure-tunes!
Interesting Fact: Young Common Mergansers leave their nest hole within a day or so of hatching. The flightless chicks leap from the nest entrance and tumble to the forest floor. The mother protects the chicks, but they catch all of their own food. They start by diving for aquatic insects and switch over to fish at about 12 days old. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Merganser/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/500, ISO 250.
Hooded Merganser ( Female )
Duck Week Continues!
What do ducks like to eat?
Quackers!
Interesting Fact: Hooded Mergansers find their prey underwater by sight. They can actually change the refractive properties of their eyes to improve their underwater vision. In addition, they have an extra eyelid, called a “nictitating membrane,” which is transparent and helps protect the eye during swimming, like a pair of goggles. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/lifehistory )
F/ 6.3, 1/40, ISO 1600.
Wood Duck
Duck Week Continues!
What do you get when you cross a duck with a computer?
A quackintosh.
Interesting Fact: Wood Ducks pair up in January, and most birds arriving at the breeding grounds in the spring are already paired. The Wood Duck is the only North American duck that regularly produces two broods in one year. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Duck/lifehistory )
F/ 10.0, 1/400, ISO 400.
Harlequin Duck
Duck Week!
What time does a duck wake up?
At the quack of dawn!
Interesting Fact: When engaged in behavioral interactions, the Harlequin Duck gives distinctly unducklike squeaks, the source of one of its local names: sea mouse. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Harlequin_Duck/lifehistory )
Through Open Lens 