Two broad categories of ducks spending the winter with us are dabbling ducks and diving ducks.
Northern pintail and other wild ducks are arriving on area ponds, lakes, and marshes to spend the winter. Photo Credit: Kathy Adams Clark. Restricted use.Wild ducks are arriving from breeding grounds in the prairie potholes of the Great Plains to spend the winter on our ponds, lakes and marshes. Lucky for them, ours aren't blanketed in ice during winter.
Males are called drakes and display a variety of colorful plumages, whereas females are called hens and have utterly drab plumage. But drakes are polygamous, with hens congregating around them. Identify the drake, and you'll learn the plumage of his hens.• Ducks are members of the Anatidae bird family, which includes ducks, geese and swans.• Diving ducks prefer open expanses of water, including coastal bays and adjacent brackish ponds.
They dunk their heads to feed on submerged freshwater vegetation or aquatic critters, such as tadpoles, then right themselves horizontally on the water. They'll leap straight into the air to take flight if alarmed.
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