Duck
37674
225404772
2008-07-13T14:36:59Z
Coveredinsevindust
6394273
{{semiprotected|small=yes}}
:''For duck as a food, see [[Duck (food)]]; for other meanings, see [[Duck (disambiguation)]]''.
{{Taxobox
| name = Ducks
| image = Ducks in plymouth, massachusetts.jpg
| image_width = 250px
| image_caption = A duck (female) and drake (male) [[Mallard]]
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[bird|Aves]]
| ordo = [[Anseriformes]]
| familia = [[Anatidae]]
| subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies
| subdivision =
[[Dendrocygninae]]<br/>
[[Oxyurinae]]<br/>
[[Anatinae]]<br/>
[[Aythyinae]]<br/>
[[Merginae]]
}}
'''Duck''' is the common name for a number of species in the [[Anatidae]] family of [[bird]]s. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the [[Anatidae]] article. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, mostly smaller than their relatives the [[swan]]s and [[goose|geese]], and may be found in both [[fresh water]] and [[sea water]].
Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated [[water fowl|water birds]] with similar forms, such as [[loon]]s or divers, [[grebe]]s, [[Rallidae|gallinule]]s, and [[coot]]s.
==Terminology==
The word '''duck''' (from [[Old English language|Anglo-Saxon]] ''dūce''), meaning the bird, came from the verb "to duck" (from Anglo-Saxon supposed *''dūcan'') meaning "to bend down low as if to get under something" or "to dive", because of the way many species in the [[dabbling duck]] group feed by upending (compare [[Dutch language|Dutch]] ''duiken'', [[German language|German]] ''tauchen'' = "to dive").
This happened because the older [[Old English language|Anglo-Saxon]] words ''ened'' (= "duck") and ''ende'' (= "end") came to be pronounced the same: other Germanic languages still have similar words for "duck" and "end": for example, Dutch ''eend'' = "duck", ''eind'' = "end", German ''ente'' = "duck", ''ende'' = "end"; this similarity goes back to [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]: compare [[Latin]] ''anas'' ([[stem (linguistics)|stem]] ''anat-'') = "duck", [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''antis'' = "duck", [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]] νησσα, νηττα (''nēssa'', ''nētta'') = "duck"; [[Sanskrit]] ''anta'' = "end".
Some people use "duck" specifically for adult females and "drake" for adult males, for the species described here; others use "hen" and "drake", respectively.
A duckling is a young duck in downy plumage<ref>"Duckling". The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Republished by dictionary.com, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/duckling, Accessed 05-01-2008.</ref> or baby duck.<ref>"Duckling". Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version), © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd., Republished by dictionary.com, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/duckling, Accessed 05-01-2008.</ref>; but in the food trade young adult ducks ready for roasting are sometimes labelled "duckling".
[[Image:ducklings (1).jpg|thumb|right|300px|Ducklings playing.]]
==Anatomy and behavior==
===Feathers and flight===
Many species of duck are temporarily flightless while [[moult]]ing; they seek out protected habitat with good food supplies during this period. This moult typically precedes [[bird migration|migration]].
The drakes of northern species often have extravagant [[plumage]], but that is [[moult]]ed in summer to give a more female-like appearance, the "eclipse" plumage. Southern resident species typically show less [[sexual dimorphism]].
===Feeding===
[[Image:Duck 1 filter teeth edit.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Lamellae along the beak.]]
Most ducks have a wide flat [[beak]] adapted for [[dredging]].
Ducks exploit a variety of food sources such as [[Poaceae|grass]]es, [[aquatic plant]]s, [[fish]], [[insect]]s, small [[amphibian]]s<ref>[http://icons.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/t/tomekandjola/1754.jpg Photo of a duck eating a frog]</ref>, [[worm]]s, and small [[mollusc]]s.
[[Diving duck]]s and [[sea duck]]s forage deep underwater. To be able to submerge more easily, the diving ducks are heavier than dabbling ducks, and therefore have more difficulty taking off to fly.
[[Dabbling duck]]s feed on the surface of water or on land, or as deep as they can reach by up-ending without completely submerging. <ref>
{{cite web
| last = Ogden
| first = Evans
| title = Dabbling Ducks
| publisher = CWE
| url = http://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/species/dabbducks.html
| accessdate = 2006-11-02 }}
</ref> Along the inside of the beak they have tiny rows of plates called [[Lamella (zoology)|lamellae]] like a whale's [[baleen]]. These let them filter water out of the side of their beaks and keep food inside.
A few specialized species such as the [[smew]], [[Common Merganser|goosander]], and the [[merganser]]s are adapted to catch and swallow large fish.
===Communication===
Despite widespread misconceptions, most ducks other than female [[Mallard]]s and [[domestic duck]]s do not "quack"; for example, the [[Greater Scaup|scaup]] makes a noise like "scaup", which its name came from.
A common [[urban legend]] claims that duck quacks do not echo; however, this has been shown to be false. This myth was first debunked by the Acoustics Research Centre at the [[University of Salford]] in 2003 as part of the [[British Association]]'s Festival of Science.<ref>
{{cite web
| last = Amos
| first = Jonathan
| title = Sound science is quackers
| publisher = BBC News
| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3086890.stm
| accessdate = 2006-11-02 }}
</ref> It was also debunked in [[MythBusters (season 1)#Does a Duck.27s Quack Echo.3F|one of the earlier episodes]] of the popular Discovery Channel television show ''[[MythBusters]]''.
==Ecology==
[[image:DSCF4687b.jpg|thumb|right|A Duck and her Ducklings, in a canal in [[Loughborough]]]]
===Distribution and habitat===
Some duck species, mainly those breeding in the temperate and Arctic [[Northern Hemisphere]], are migratory; those in the tropics, however, are generally not. Some ducks, particularly in [[Australia]] where rainfall is patchy and erratic, are nomadic, seeking out the temporary lakes and pools that form after localised heavy rain. {{Fact|date=December 2007}}
Ducks have become an accepted presence in populated areas. Migration patterns have changed such that many species remain in an area during the winter months. In spring and early summer ducks sometimes influence human activity through their nesting; sometimes a duck pair nests well away from water, needing a long trek to water for the hatchlings: this sometimes causes an urgent [[wildlife rescue]] operation (e.g. by the [[RSPCA]]) if the duck nested somewhere unsuitable like in a small enclosed [[courtyard]].
===Predators===
A worldwide group like the ducks has many predators. Ducklings are particularly vulnerable, since their inability to fly makes them easy prey not only for avian hunters but also large fish like [[Esox|pike]], [[crocodilia]]ns, and other aquatic hunters, including fish-eating birds such as [[heron]]s. Ducks' nests may be raided by land-based predators, and brooding females may sometimes be caught unaware on the nest by [[mammal]]s (e.g. [[fox]]es) and large birds, including [[hawk]]s and [[eagle]]s.
Adult ducks are fast fliers, but may be caught on the water by large aquatic predators. This can occasionally include fish such as the [[Muskellunge|muskie]] in North America or the [[Esox|pike]] in [[Europe]]. In flight, ducks are safe from all but a few [[predator]]s such as [[humans]] and the [[Peregrine Falcon]], which regularly uses its speed and strength to catch ducks.
==Relationship with humans==
===Culinary===
{{main|Duck (food)}}
As food, "duck" refers to the meat of several species of bird in the [[Anatidae]] family, found in both [[fresh water|fresh]] and [[sea water|salt water]]. Duck is eaten in many [[cuisine]]s around the world.
===Domestication===
[[Image:2004duck.PNG|thumb|right|Duck headcount in 2004]]
Ducks have many economic uses, being [[farm]]ed for their [[duck (food)|meat]], [[Egg (food)|egg]]s, [[feather]]s, (particularly their [[down feathers|down]]). They are also kept and bred by aviculturists and often displayed in zoos. All [[domesticated duck|domestic ducks]] are descended from the wild [[Mallard]] ''Anas platyrhynchos'', except the [[Muscovy Duck]] <ref>
{{cite web
| last =
| title = Mallard - Nature Notes
| publisher = Ducks Unlimited Canada
| url = http://www.ducks.ca/resource/general/naturenotes/mallard.html
| accessdate = 2006-11-02 }}
</ref>. Many domestic breeds have become much larger than their wild ancestor, with a "hull length" (from base of neck to base of tail) of 30 cm (12 inches) or more and routinely able to swallow an adult [[Great Britain|British]] [[Common Frog]] ''Rana temporaria'' whole.
[[FAO]] reports that [[China]] is the top duck market in 2004 followed by [[Vietnam]] and other [[South East Asia]]n countries.
===Hunting===
In many areas, wild ducks of various species (including ducks farmed and released into the wild) are hunted for food or sport, by [[shooting]], or formerly by [[decoy]]s. From this came the expression "a sitting duck", which means "an easy target".
===Cultural references===
In [[2002]], [[psychologist]] [[Richard Wiseman]] and [[colleague]]s at the [[University of Hertfordshire]] ([[United Kingdom|UK]]) finished a year-long [[LaughLab]] [[experiment]], concluding that, of the animals in the world, the duck is the type that attracts most [[humour|humor]] and silliness; he said "If you're going to tell a [[joke]] involving an animal, make it a duck." The word "duck" may have become an [[inherently funny word]] in many [[languages]] because ducks are seen as a silly animal, and their odd appearance compared to other birds. Of the many [[List of fictional ducks|ducks in fiction]], many are silly [[cartoon]] characters like [[Daffy Duck]] (see the ''[[New Scientist]]'' article [http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn2876] mentioning humor in the word "duck").
A [[duck test]] is a form of [[inductive reasoning]], which can be phrased as follows: "If a bird looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck." The test implies that a person can figure out the true nature of an unknown subject by observing this subject's readily identifiable traits. It is sometimes used to counter abstruse arguments that something is not what it appears to be.
==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Comb duck.jpg|African [[Comb Duck]]
Image:duck-on-ground.jpg|[[Mallard]] drake
Image:Wood_duck_eclipse.jpg|Male [[Wood Duck]] in eclipse plumage
Image:Muscovy-duck-1.jpg|Male [[Muscovy Duck]]
Image:Mandarin.duck.arp.jpg|Male [[Mandarin Duck]]
Image:Ringed teal.gif|[[Ringed Teal]]
Image:Red-crested.pochard.slimbridge.arp.jpg |[[Red-crested Pochard]]
Image:Mallard flying.jpg| A male Mallard flying.
</gallery>
==See also==
{{wiktionarypar|duck}}
*[[Duck hunting]]
*[[Domesticated duck]] — ducks kept as pets or show animals and for meat and eggs and down
*[[List of fictional ducks]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons|Duck}}
{{cookbook}}
*[http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/duckecho.htm "The quack doesn't echo" urban legend] (from [[Snopes.com]])
*[http://www.omlet.co.uk/guide/guide.php?view=Ducks Guide to keeping ducks]
*[http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/familia.phtml?idFamilia=27 Duck videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
*[http://seaducks.org/subjects/MIGRATION%20AND%20FLIGHT.htm list of books] (useful looking abstracts)
*{{gutenberg|no=18884|name=Ducks at a Distance, by Rob Hines}} - A modern illustrated guide to identification of US waterfowl.
*[http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,9865,1432991,00.html Duck necrophilia] Necrophilia among ducks ruffles research feathers
[[Category:Ducks|*]]
[[Category:Game birds]]
[[af:Eend]]
[[als:Ente]]
[[ang:Ened]]
[[ar:بط]]
[[ast:Coríu]]
[[zh-min-nan:Ah]]
[[bg:Патица]]
[[ca:Ànec]]
[[cv:Кăвакал]]
[[cs:Kachna]]
[[cy:Hwyaden]]
[[eml:Anàdra]]
[[eo:Anaso]]
[[fa:اردک]]
[[fr:Canard]]
[[gl:Pato]]
[[ko:오리]]
[[io:Anado]]
[[id:Bebek]]
[[is:Önd]]
[[it:Anatra]]
[[ka:იხვები]]
[[ht:Kanna]]
[[la:Anas (avis)]]
[[lt:Antis]]
[[ms:Itik]]
[[nah:Canauhtli]]
[[nl:Eenden]]
[[nds-nl:Ente]]
[[ja:鴨]]
[[oc:Guit]]
[[nds:Aant]]
[[pt:Pato]]
[[qu:Pili]]
[[ru:Утки]]
[[simple:Duck]]
[[sv:Änder]]
[[th:เป็ด]]
[[tr:Ördek]]
[[uk:Качка]]
[[bat-smg:Pīlė]]
[[zh:鸭]]