Waterfowl - the start of a beautiful relationship
My friends and I were discussing waterfowl last night - for some of us it was the first time hearing the word. We talked about how when you are new to an experience, everything looks sorta the same - but the closer you look the more differences appear. Eventually you wonder how you ever thought they were alike.
Last year we collectively recorded 252 observations of waterfowl in the Winnipeg region CNC - about a third of our bird observations were waterfowl and we found them pretty much everywhere we looked - providing there was some water for them to swim about in.
Waterfowl or Anseriformes are a group of birds that 'look like a goose'. They all have webbed feet set back on their body so that they tend to waddle when they walk and large bills. In our part of the world, they are mostly migratory (its pretty hard to be a waterbird when it is all frozen). The timing of the CNC event coincides with the northward spring migration so we have not only the birds that plan to stay but also all those moving through to places north of us where there is room and food to nest.
Waterfowl spend much of their time on or near water - ditches, marshes, sloughs, retention ponds, creeks, rivers. They are generally confident that they can fly their way out of trouble and so are often seen in the open - swimming, loafing and feeding. In some locations, you can take photos of the ducks using your car as a blind. Pick a less travelled road near a wet area, park on the shoulder and wait with the window rolled down.
The waterfowl we see in Manitoba are all Anatidae: ducks, geese and swans. During last year's event, we found 18 species of ducks and geese but no swans.
Swans are the big white birds with the long necks. We have two species Trumpeter Swans and Tundra Swans . Telling the two apart requires a really nice look at the head and bill - so if you have a long lens and luck you have a chance for a species id. Swans as a group are a pretty easy id though as they are so big and white - the only thing I confuse them with at a distance are pelicans - which have black wingtips - and that crazy pouch bill.
Ducks are the ones with the duckbills. They are smaller than either geese or swans but they are still pretty big. Our smallest Manitoba duck is the green-winged teal which is still averages 35 cm long (or just over a foot long) much easier to observe and photograph than the smaller birds. In the spring, ducks are in 'breeding plumage'. This makes it much easier to identify which duck you are looking at as breeding plumage is generally pretty flashy. Mallards were the number two most observed species in Manitoba last year - and the number one in the world. This may have something to do with how tolerant this duck is of people - and their willingness to be hand-fed. (you know you shouldn't....) In 2021, we saw 17 species of the 20 or so species of ducks observed in the Winnipeg region in April-May.
Geese are the middle sized group in the three - and our geese observations are dominated by the Canada Goose - our most frequently observed species overall. Canada Geese are grazers and enjoy the large stretches of mown grass that we feel are essential to much of our communal urban landscape.
Less than two weeks to go....
Comments
Add a Comment