Add Animal
    Mammals
    Mammals Birds Amphibians Reptiles Animals Ray-finned fishes Myxini – Hagfishes Petromyz' – Lampreys Sharks & rays Holocep' – Chimaeras Dipneusti – Lungfish Coelac' – Coelacanths Insecta – Insects / bugs Gastropoda – Snails & slugs Cephalopoda – Squids & octopuses Arachnida – Spiders & scorpions Malacostraca – Malacostracans Diplopoda – Millipedes Bivalvia – Marine molluscs Chilopoda – Centipedes Pycnogonida – Sea spiders Merostomata – Horseshoe crabs More Classes
    Filters

    Regions

    See AllSelect

    Habitat

    See AllSelect

    Anas – Dabbling ducks

    These ducks practice one of the most unusual ways of eating their food

    Also known as dipping ducks, surface-feeding ducks, pond ducks, river ducks, and freshwater ducks.

    They eat mostly water plants, which they collect by tipping up in shallows—rarely by diving (with open wings); they also graze for seeds and insects along the coast.

    The bill is flat and large, with no lobes on the hind toe. Dabbling ducks float high in the water and are quick fliers, jumping upward on loud wings before leveling off in flocks.

    Dabbling ducks are migratory and may be found worldwide, primarily on inland waterways. However, they are most prevalent in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Except during the post-breeding flightless phase, males exhibit striking plumage patterns when they resemble the drab females.