Bird Club goes quackers over slide show
March 18, 2001

In preparation for a March 31 field trip to Collins Marsh, Bernie Brouchoud, Woodland Dunes Director, presented a program on Ducks at the March meeting of the Aegolius Bird Club. An informative series of slides were supplemented with a collection of 28 duck wings representing 19 species. Bernie states that the collection is about 25 years old and was originally obtained, free of charge, from a Fish and Wildlife agent.

What is a duck? They are members of the family Anaticdae, which includes all web-footed swimming birds with lamellate bills. Lamellae are tooth-like serrations along the upper and lower parts of the bill which fir together and form a strainer which sorts out food and expels water when the bird is feeding.

Ducks are divided into sub-families. River and Pond ducks, sea or diving ducks and Mergansers. It was pointed out the pond ducks, except for the gadwall, all have blue or greenish coloration on the wings called the speculum. Diving ducks do not have this coloring.

A duck not likely to be seen if the March weather stays cold is the Shoveller, they love warmer weather, and in spring wait until ponds and sloughs are free from ice. no other duck possesses a bill like the Shoveller. Although the bills of all ducks have comb-like teeth, those of the Shoveller have the greatest degree of development. The bill is exceptionally large and widens from about over a half inch at the base to an inch and a quarter at the tip. This allows the duck to be a successful surface feeder allowing it to utilize minute organisms found at the bottom of ooze. The exceptional bill seperates it from any other duck.

The birds sit low in the water and often swim with heads half submerged. The are often observed swimming in a line, one following the other, feeding on the material stirred up by the one in the front. The leader may then turn go around into a circle and thus they go around and around. Like all puddle ducks they are capable of flying directly into the air springing vertically from the water with an upward bound.

Although the northward range of the Shoveller extends far to the north, they are known to nest in Wisconsin. Studies have shown that the female often ends up with two husbands, usually the second husband is a young drake whose female "girlfriends" are not interested in mating during their first year.

When ducklings hatch they may look like any other species, but in 10 days they acquire their distinctive spatula-shaped bills.

For more information on the March 31 field trip, call (920) 793- 4007. The April 10 meeting of the Aegolius Bird Club will feature sandhill cranes. Jeff Pritzl, DNR wildlife manager will discuss their present status. Brouchoud will outline the procedure for the annual crane count during the month of April. Meetings are held every second Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Woodland Dunes Marsh Haus on highway 310, Two Rivers.

Visitors are always welcome and refreshments available.