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	{{Taxobox
	\| color = pink
	\| name = Ducks <br/>
	\| status = {{StatusSecure}}
	\| image = Ducks in plymouth, massachusetts.jpg
	\| image_width = 250px
	\| image_caption = A female and male ]
	\| regnum = ]ia
	\| phylum = ]
	\| classis = ]
	\| ordo = ]
	\| familia = ]
	\| subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies
	\| subdivision =
	]<br/>
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	}}
	{{otheruses}}
	'''Duck''' is the common name for a number of species in the ] family of ]s. The ducks are divided between several subfamilies listed in full in the Anatidae article. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds, mostly smaller than their relatives the ]s and ], and may be found in both ] and ].

	Most ducks have a wide flat ] adapted for ]. They exploit a variety of food sources such as ]es, ]s and ]s, ], and ]s. Some (the ]s) forage deep underwater; the others (the ]s) feed from the surface of water or on land. To be able to submerge easier, the diving ducks are heavier for size than dabbling ducks, and therefore have more difficulty taking off to fly. A few specialized species (the ] and the ]s) are adapted to catch large fish.

	The males (drakes) of northern species often have showy ], but this is ]ed in summer to give a more female-like appearance, the "eclipse" plumage. Many species of ducks are temporarily flightless while ]ing; they seek out protected habitat with good food supplies during this period. This moult typically precedes ].

	Some duck species, mainly those breeding in the temperate and arctic ], are ], but others are not. Some, particularly in ] where rainfall is patchy and erratic, are nomadic, seeking out the temporary lakes and pools that form after localised heavy rain.

	Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated water birds with similar forms, such as ]s or divers, ]s, ]s, and ]s.

	==Ducks and humans==

	In many areas, wild ducks of various species (including ducks farmed and released into the wild) are hunted for food or sport, by ], or formerly by ]s. From this came the expression "a sitting duck" to mean "an easy target".

	Ducks have many economic uses, being ]ed for their ], ]s, ]s and ]. Most ] were bred from the wild ], ''Anas platyrhynchos'', but many breeds have become much larger than their wild ancestor, with a "hull length" (from base of neck to base of tail) of 30 cm (12 inches) or more and routinely able to swallow an adult ] ], ''Rana temporaria'', whole.

	==Trivia==
	*In a wildlife pond, the bottom over most of the area should be too deep for dabbling wild ducks to reach the bottom, to protect bottom-living life from being constantly disturbed and eaten by ducks dredging.
	*The sound made by some female ducks is called a "]"; a common (and false) ] is that quacks do not produce an echo.

	==Etymology==
	The word '''duck''' meaning the bird, came from the verb "to duck" meaning to bend down as if to get under something, because of the way many species in the ] group feed by upending (compare the ] word ''duiken'' = "to dive").

	This happened because the older ] word for "duck" came to be pronounced the same as the word for "end": other Germanic languages still have similar words for "duck" and "end": for example, Dutch ''eend'' = "duck", ''eind'' = "end"; compare ] ''anas'' (] ''anat-'') = "duck", ] ''anta'' (masc.) = "end", ]n ''antis'' = "duck".

	==Ducks and humor==
	] and ] in the famous 1952 '']'' cartoon '']''.]]
	In ], ] ] and ] at the ] (]) finished a year-long ] ], concluding that, of the animals in the world, the duck is the type that attracts most ] and silliness; he said "If you're going to tell a ] involving an animal, make it a duck." The word "duck" may have become an ] in many ] because ducks are seen as a silly animal, and their odd appearance compared to other birds. Of the many ], many are silly ] characters (see the '']'' article mentioning humor in the word "duck" )

	==Gallery==
	<gallery>
	Image:Comb duck.jpg\|African ]
	Image:duck-on-ground.jpg\|] drake
	Image:ruddy.shelduck.arp.2.750pix.jpg\|] - not a true duck but a member of the ]
	Image:Female Mallard.jpg\|Female Mallard
	Image:Male_Mallard.jpg\|Mallard drake
	Image:Muscovy-duck-1.jpg\|. Male ]
	Image:Edelstein-Ente.jpg \|Duck (mosaic, gemstones) by Claudia von Aponte
	Image:Ducks2.jpg\|Pair of Mallard Ducks.
	</gallery>

	==See also==
	{{wiktionarypar\|duck}}
	*] — ducks kept for meat, eggs and down
	*]
	*]

	==External links==
	* (from ])
	*
	* on the Internet Bird Collection
	*http://www.thecontentwell.com/Fish_Game/Ducks/Duck_migration.html
	*http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2002/11/fieldwork.html
	*http://www.ibiblio.org/pardo/birds/archive/archive2/msg00397.html
	*http://www.ducks.org/waterfowling/flyways.asp
	*http://www.gamehuntersguide.com/Encyclopedia/Animals/Birds/Diving%20ducks/Tufted%20duck.htm (good for foreign names)
	*http://seaducks.org/subjects/MIGRATION%20AND%20FLIGHT.htm (useful looking abstracts)
	*http://www.nrdc.org/greengate/wildlife/duckf.asp
	*http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/nature_20030616.shtml (]s' impact on ]s)

	{{Commons\|Duck}}
	{{cookbook}}

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Revision as of 17:36, 26 June 2006

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