Nice bird that flies, walks and swims

Ducks are aquatic birds that stand out for their curious flat feet that allow them to swim and a striking wide, short and flattened beak. However, some species have wedge-shaped bills.

These birds perform very well both in the water, on land or in the air. They are generally migratory and usually live near fresh or salt water, such as swamps, ponds, rivers or wetlands. All species of ducks can fly and travel great distances every year.

More than 100 species of ducks are known around the world. The most common ducks are the red duck, domestic duck, torrent duck, diving duck, royal duck and the bicolor suirirí duck. Some live a long time in the same place, depending on the quantity and variety of food that the habitat offers them.

Fun facts

  • They have a compact body, so it is not difficult for them to swim underwater. While their legs with membranes between their fingers prevent them from sinking and help them swim at high speed.
  • They can turn their necks completely backwards, managing to clean the feathers on their backs without any problems.
  • Its plumage is of different colors, depending on the species. But the males are always more colorful and striking than the females. The latter have brown tones so that they can be better camouflaged with the young.
  • The color of the beak also changes according to the species, finding ducks with yellow, orange, pink or blue beaks.
  • In a wild environment, they eat fish, plants, seeds, and algae. They take mud or water and filter it with their beak to extract food.
  • Ducks are oviparous birds, that is, they lay eggs. In general, they can lay between 4 to 15 eggs in each laying and the incubation lasts about 4 weeks.