In our neck of the woods... a few more ducks that have been hanging around

I recently shared images of some hooded mergansers, showing the striking differences between the drakes and the hens. Another species I saw a few weeks ago (most of them have moved on north by now) is the common goldeneye. The first photo is a drake, the second photo shows a drake and a hen.

Common goldeneyes are diving ducks, which means they dive all the way underwater to search for food. They are primarily predators, eating small fish and aquatic invertebrates like crayfish. They also eat plant material, but plants make up less than 25% of their diet. It's fun watching them feed because they synchronize their dives... the group (sometimes up to twenty) will disappear underwater all at once, which I suppose helps confuse the prey animals, making them easier to catch. They stay underwater for as long as a minute, then they all pop back up to the surface.

Like the hooded merganser (and the wood duck), common goldeneyes nest in cavities in trees. They breed in northern Canada and Alaska.

I also included a couple photos of a drake mallard that was feeding close to the shore. Mallards are dabbling ducks, rather than diving ducks. Instead of diving all the way under, they just tip their body and submerge their head in shallow water to feed on plants and seeds (though they also eat small animals to get more protein during the breeding season).

There you go... another dose of quacky facts.

Photo credit:
Goldeneyes and mallard - Stan C. Smith