Award-winning nature writer Dominic Couzens shares an exclusive extract from ‘RSPB Birding Year’.
Come December and most birds will be settled in their winter quarters. Here in the UK that means there are now thousands of ducks, geese, swans and wading birds making the most of our wetlands. This makes it a great month to head to your local lake, pond, estuary or wetland and dive into the fascinating world of ducks.
The next few months see the highest numbers of wildfowl in the UK. Even the very last regular arrivals, Bewick’s Swans from Russia, have arrived and settled in. Just about every pond and lake will hold birds that have travelled from elsewhere to winter here, even if it’s just Mallards on your local park pond that have come from Sweden or the Low Countries. If December brings harsh conditions, with long-lasting heavy frosts and snow, birds will be displaced within the country and many more will cross over from the continent, adding to the crowds.
It’s a wonderful time to enjoy ducks. The males are in their breeding finery, with bold patterns, fancy ornamentations and colourful accents. The females are the epitome of subtle speckling and barring. There is much interplay between the two. What looks like birds shaking their heads or flapping their wings isn’t happening to get comfortable; it’s subtle display.
Watch any group of male Mallards and you will notice them abruptly lifting their rear ends and dipping their heads down to touch the water, probably making a weak whistle as they do so. This is courtship, and at this time of the year it will be communal, with several males displaying to apparently disinterested females. You will often see what are called ‘three-bird flights’, in which a female suddenly takes off, pursued by two (or more) males, all quacking. This is also display. It doesn’t look that different from everyday behaviour, so you can easily miss it.
The ducks that winter on the sea, which are indeed often called ‘seaducks’ by birdwatchers, often have more ostentatious forms of courting. Male Red-breasted Mergansers have a wonderful bowing and ‘sky-pointing’ display, while Goldeneyes throw their head back so that it rests on their back.
Eiders also throw their heads back, while uttering the most gorgeous, deliciously suggestive cooing, which will make you smile every time you hear it.
Watching the ducks on a pond, lake or estuary gives you an excellent chance to appreciate the differences between their lifestyles. On the sea, things are simple, because every duck is a diving duck. Eiders and Common Scoters dive underwater to snatch shellfish, such as mussels, from the seabed, whereas mergansers dive underwater to chase fish.
In freshwater, the two commonest diving ducks are Tufted Duck and Pochard, the former feeding on a substantial amount of animal matter, and the latter veering more towards a vegetarian diet. Pochards have a habit of feeding at night, so you often see them in rafts asleep during the day.
Most other ducks are described as ‘surface-feeding’ or ‘dabbling’ ducks, which prefer not to dive underwater, but appreciating their slightly different feeding habits is enjoyable. Notice, for example, that Teal mostly feed at the very edge of water, just about getting their feet wet. Shovelers seem to spend most time keeping their bills at the very surface of the water while swimming – classic dabbling.
Gadwalls are experts in the art of simply dipping their head into the water while swimming, while Wigeons, if they can, forsake the water altogether and feed on land, nibbling grass in the company of geese. Pintails, with much the longest necks of any ducks, do what you might expect – they upend, dipping their whole forebody into the water, with rear end pointing skywards, so that they can reach deeper under than the rest.
All these species are able to use everyone else’s methods, and it also depends on water level and conditions, but most have a preference. The exception is the remarkable Mallard, which can do everything!
This is an extract from RSPB Birding Year written by Dominic Couzens and RSPB Notes on Nature editor Siân Duncan. RSPB Birding Year is a month-by-month guide to bird behaviour in the UK, with ID tips and bird profiles, seasonal highlights and activities, expert advice on how to help birds, and an exploration of bird folklore.
