No, they just need enough water to dunk their heads in. But, if you want a happy duck, a pond/kiddie pool would go a long way.
No they do not require a pond to survive. Ducks that are not raised on a pond from birth usually are afraid of a pond. They do enjoy a kiddie pool something similiar though. At the farm I used to live on we had a huge spring fed pond. I tried to introduce a few of mine to the pond as young adults and they did not like it at all. After a couple days living on the pond (And I was feeding them out there and they had plenty of caves and alcoves to get into) they came back to the chicken yard gate sqauwking to get back in.
