Editing Duck (section)

==Behaviour==
===Feeding===
[[File:Duck 1 filter teeth edit.jpg|thumb|[[Pecten (biology)|Pecten]] along the bill]]
[[File:Duckling preening (81313).webm|thumb|[[Mallard]] duckling preening]]
Ducks eat food sources such as [[Poaceae|grass]]es, aquatic plants, fish, insects, small amphibians, worms, and small [[mollusc]]s.

[[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 = https://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/species/dabbducks.html | access-date = 2006-11-02 }}</ref> Along the edge of the bill, there is a comb-like structure called a [[Pecten (biology)|pecten]]. This strains the water squirting from the side of the bill and traps any food. The pecten is also used to preen feathers and to hold slippery food items.

[[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.

A few specialized species such as the [[merganser]]s are adapted to catch and swallow large fish.

The others have the characteristic wide flat bill adapted to [[dredging]]-type jobs such as pulling up waterweed, pulling worms and small molluscs out of mud, searching for insect larvae, and bulk jobs such as dredging out, holding, turning head first, and swallowing a squirming frog. To avoid injury when digging into sediment it has no [[cere]], but the nostrils come out through hard horn.

''[[The Guardian]]'' published an article advising that ducks should not be fed with bread because it [[Angel wing|damages the health of the ducks]] and pollutes waterways.<ref>{{cite web|author=Karl Mathiesen |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/16/dont-feed-the-ducks-bread-say-conservationists |title=Don't feed the ducks bread, say conservationists |newspaper=The Guardian |date=16 March 2015 |access-date=13 November 2016}}</ref>

===Breeding===
[[File:Parrulo -Muscovy duckling.jpg|thumb|A [[Muscovy duck]]ling]]
Ducks generally [[monogamy in animals|only have one partner at a time]], although the partnership usually only lasts one year.<ref>{{Cite book | doi=10.1007/978-1-4615-6787-5_4|chapter = Female-Biased Philopatry, Monogamy, and the Timing of Pair Formation in Migratory Waterfowl|title = Current Ornithology| pages=187–221|year = 1988|last1 = Rohwer|first1 = Frank C.| last2=Anderson| first2=Michael G.| isbn=978-1-4615-6789-9}}</ref> Larger species and the more sedentary species (like fast-river specialists) tend to have pair-bonds that last numerous years.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Cyndi M. |last1=Smith |first2=Fred |last2=Cooke |first3=Gregory J. |last3=Robertson |first4=R. Ian |last4=Goudie |first5=W. Sean |last5=Boyd |title=Long-Term Pair Bonds in Harlequin Ducks |journal=The Condor |year=2000 |volume=102 |issue=1 |pages=201–205 |doi=10.1093/condor/102.1.201 |doi-access=free |hdl=10315/13797 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Most duck species breed once a year, choosing to do so in favourable conditions ([[spring (season)|spring]]/summer or wet seasons). Ducks also tend to make a [[bird nest|nest]] before breeding, and, after hatching, lead their ducklings to water. Mother ducks are very caring and protective of their young, but may abandon some of their ducklings if they are physically stuck in an area they cannot get out of (such as nesting in an enclosed [[courtyard]]) or are not prospering due to genetic defects or sickness brought about by hypothermia, starvation, or disease. Ducklings can also be orphaned by inconsistent late hatching where a few eggs hatch after the mother has abandoned the nest and led her ducklings to water.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wildliferehabber.com/content/if-you-find-duckling|title=If You Find An Orphaned Duckling - Wildlife Rehabber|website=wildliferehabber.com|access-date=2018-12-22|archive-date=2018-09-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923152911/http://wildliferehabber.com/content/if-you-find-duckling|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Communication===
Female [[mallard]] ducks (as well as several other species in the genus ''Anas'', such as the [[American black duck|American]] and [[Pacific black duck]]s, [[spot-billed duck]], [[northern pintail]] and [[common teal]]) make the classic "quack" sound while males make a similar but raspier sound that is sometimes written as "breeeeze",<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VGofAwAAQBAJ&q=mallard+sound+deep+and+raspy&pg=PA39|title=The Duck Bible|last=Carver|first=Heather|date=2011|publisher=Lulu.com|isbn=9780557901562|language=en}}{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}} but, despite widespread misconceptions, most species of duck do not "quack".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fXJBBAAAQBAJ&q=Females+of+most+dabbling+ducks+make+the+classic+%22quack%22+sound+but+most+ducks+don%27t+quack&pg=PA123|title=Bird Brains: Inside the Strange Minds of Our Fine Feathered Friends|last=Titlow|first=Budd|date=2013-09-03|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780762797707|language=en}}</ref> In general, ducks make a range of [[bird vocalisation|calls]], including whistles, cooing, yodels and grunts. For example, the [[scaup]] &ndash; which are [[diving duck]]s &ndash; make a noise like "scaup" (hence their name). Calls may be loud displaying calls or quieter contact calls.

A common [[urban legend]] claims that duck quacks do not echo; however, this has been proven 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 news | last = Amos | first = Jonathan | title = Sound science is quackers | work = BBC News | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3086890.stm | access-date = 2006-11-02 | date=2003-09-08}}</ref> It was also debunked in [[MythBusters (2003 season)#Does a Duck's Quack Echo?|one of the earlier episodes]] of the popular Discovery Channel television show ''[[MythBusters]]''.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://mythbustersresults.com/episode8| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626043438/http://mythbustersresults.com/episode8| url-status=usurped| archive-date=June 26, 2007|title=Mythbusters Episode 8|date=12 December 2003}}</ref>

===Predators===
[[File:Ringedteal.PNG|thumb|[[Ringed teal]]]]
Ducks have many predators. Ducklings are particularly vulnerable, since their inability to fly makes them easy prey not only for predatory birds but also for large fish like [[Esox|pike]], [[crocodilia]]ns, predatory [[testudines]] such as the [[alligator snapping turtle]], and other aquatic hunters, including fish-eating birds such as [[heron]]s. Ducks' nests are raided by land-based predators, and brooding females may be caught unaware on the nest by mammals, such as [[fox]]es, or large birds, such as [[hawk]]s or [[owl]]s.

Adult ducks are fast fliers, but may be caught on the water by large aquatic predators including big fish such as the North American [[Muskellunge|muskie]] and the European [[Esox|pike]]. In flight, ducks are safe from all but a few predators such as humans and the [[peregrine falcon]], which uses its speed and strength to catch ducks.