Ducks on the Move

     During much of February and into early March of this year, I visited several inland, human-made impoundments, large and small, in southeastern Pennsylvania to see what kinds of ducks migrated through here in the greatest numbers.  I visited some of those same lakes and ponds in winter, which were mostly ice-free, so I was able to know which ducks wintered here, mostly mallards, black ducks and common mergansers, and which ones were migrants.  American wigeons, ring-necked ducks, northern pintails and green-winged teal were the most common and noticeable of migrating ducks this spring in this area.  And there was a sprinkling each of hooded mergansers, lesser scaups and shoveler ducks.
     The plump, little wigeons were THEE most abundant of migrating ducks in this area this spring.  Wigeons are dabbling ducks meaning they "tip-up" with their tails pointed to the sky so they can use their beaks to dredge aquatic plants from the bottoms of shallow waters.  They also have a couple of other ways of getting food.  They graze on grass and shoots of winter rye like geese do, right there with the geese.  And wigeons rob coots and diving ducks, including ring-necks, of the water vegetation they bring to the surface to swallow.  The wigeons rush to the surfacing water birds and grab the plants with their beaks from the bills of the coots and ducks before those poor, hard-working birds have a chance to defend what is rightfully theirs.
     Ring-necked ducks are a species of diving ducks in the bay duck branch.  They slip under water from the surface to pull up water vegetation and seize aquatic insects and snails from the bottoms and take all that to the surface to swallow.
     Other kinds of bay ducks in North America include canvasbacks, red-heads and two kinds of scaups, which mostly winter in rafts of hundreds in brackish or salt water bays, back waters and harbors off the oceans.  But ring-necks, being partial to fresh water, today winter mostly on larger inland impoundments, and are more likely to migrate inland as well.  This divergence of life style from that of its relatives has given ring-necks a wintering niche of their own with reduced competition for space and food.
     Northern pintails are lean ducks and swift flyers.  They are dabblers of water plants, as are wigeons, but also join mallards, geese and swans in harvested corn fields to shovel up waste corn kernels found on the ground.
     Little groups of migrant pintails engage in courtship flights early in the vernal season, which are interesting and thrilling to watch.  About a half-dozen drakes surround a female pintail on a pond.  Eventually, she takes swift flight, followed by her handsome suitors.  The whole little assemblage of pintails loops speedily around the impoundment and surrounding land several times and the male that keeps up to the female the best gets to be her mate for the coming breeding season.  Perhaps that is why pintails are so swift on the wing; only the fastest pass on their genetic code.
     The pretty green-winged teal are "pint-sized" dabbling ducks, being only half the size of mallards.  Teal prefer inches-deep water on the edges of ponds, ditches and flooded fields where they mostly consume the small seeds of wetland plants, including sedges, grasses, pondweeds and smartweeds.  And teal visit harvested grain fields, joining other dabblers, geese and swans there.           
     The tiny green-wings fly swiftly in tight formations, twisting and turning in flight like one body with remarkable precision and without collision.  They are a joy to watch in the air.
     The numbers and kinds of migrant ducks here in spring may vary from year to year, depending on winter weather and other factors, but it's always cheering to experience those ducks on the move in southeastern Pennsylvania in February and March.  They are another, early sign that spring is arriving!