Diving mallards

[DucksGeeseHeart]

All 6 of the ducks I have had, domesticated from mallards, have enjoyed diving a great deal. We have a pond on our property big enough to row around in a little dinghy, and I used to take my ducks there all the time when they were younger. They would dive under the water, under my boat, and pop up 30 feet away! They hunted frogs, tad poles, and probably other things under the water.

But it was very much different than the true diving ducks. I worked in a household on a lake for 5 years and I would watch the diving ducks like buffleheads. Their diving behavior was different and they stayed under much longer.

I don't know much about cormorants, but I love them and often see them along our rivers, lakes, and sloughs.

That's really cool, KaleIAm! I love that your ducks would dive under your boat.
I'm going to read about buffleheads because I don't think I've seen those before.

 

[KaleIAm]

There's some cormorants with pelicans for you. The cormorants are true diving birds.

Cool photo! The first time I saw them I was really surprised because they sit so low in the water, compared to the ducks I'm used to. Then I saw them hop out and open their wings and stand there sunning themselves for an hour! I took a photo and later was exclaiming about it to a friend who told me it was a cormorant. Now I see them regularly!

 

[GranderTheGander]

Cool photo! The first time I saw them I was really surprised because they sit so low in the water, compared to the ducks I'm used to. Then I saw them hop out and open their wings and stand there sunning themselves for an hour! I took a photo and later was exclaiming about it to a friend who told me it was a cormorant. Now I see them regularly!

I only see them in the fall and winter on the river. I think they go out to the bay in warmer weather, but I don't know that for sure.

 

[GranderTheGander]

That's really cool, KaleIAm! I love that your ducks would dive under your boat.
I'm going to read about buffleheads because I don't think I've seen those before.

Here's some Bufflehead ducks for you. I only see them in the fall and winter, too, and they don't get that close. Fortunately, I have a good telephoto lens on my camera. They are also diving ducks, although I've seen them eat things floating on the water, or at least it looks like they are doing that. They are small ducks.

 

[KaleIAm]

I only see them in the fall and winter on the river. I think they go out to the bay in warmer weather, but I don't know that for sure.

Oh, I'm not sure about the seasons! I'll have to start paying attention to that. It is probably different in different areas. Where we live in Washington State we have pretty mild weather year around. I feel really lucky that we have wild waterfowl, even trumpeter swans, over winter with us!

 

[casportpony]

This is a diving duck:

 

[MGG]

There are almost 50 mallards camped out in the pond in front of my apartment complex; I feed them every day.
They all look the same - the drakes and hens are all colored like mallards.
A percentage of them (10-12) do this diving thing that looks like water ballet! They will hop up in the air then dive entirely under the water, swim for several feet, then re-emerge. They seem to have great fun with it! Sometimes they surface, pop up, then re-submerge again and again - looking like a playful porpoise.

I looked up what kind of duck dives like this, and have found many articles saying that mallards *do not,* and the ones that do look nothing like mallards.

Well, some of these mallards do dive (not dabble). It's great fun to watch and wish I could get it on video.

I'd love to know whether anyone else has witnessed this in ducks that are the same color (both drakes and hens) as mallards.

All ducks can dive, and do. But only a few species of wild ducks really dive. An easy way to tell most diving ducks is by how far back their legs are on their bodies.
I have a few true diving ducks in my collection and they can stay under the water a loooong time. Especially when you're trying to catch them, lol.

 

[DucksGeeseHeart]

There's some cormorants with pelicans for you. The cormorants are true diving birds.

Yes! In fact one of the places I watched cormorants was from a boat launch dock in Florida, on the intercoastal waterway. There were pelicans there, too. They stand up on the pier later and hold their wings out to dry.
The other place was in Connecticut, in the ponds and estuaries off Long Island Sound.

 

[DucksGeeseHeart]

This is a diving duck:
View attachment 2933275View attachment 2933277View attachment 2933278

Awwww! I love that one!! And clearly he is a pet, too.

 

[DucksGeeseHeart]

All ducks can dive, and do. But only a few species of wild ducks really dive. An easy way to tell most diving ducks is by how far back their legs are on their bodies.
I have a few true diving ducks in my collection and they can stay under the water a loooong time. Especially when you're trying to catch them, lol.

That's funny about them staying under when you're trying to catch them.
That's a thing I and my friends have been thinking about the mallards. There are peregrine falcons in the area, and the ducks will stay in the water when they see them. They're always keeping one eye on the sky. We figure, firstly, if the hawk does its signature punching thing with its legs, it will only push them into the water and not harm them. And secondly if they see a hawk diving through the air toward them, they can go under to evade.
The reflexes of these wild mallards are hair trigger. They can get from land into the water in a quarter blink of an eye.