Waterfowl What they are and are not - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Waterfowl What they are and are not

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Redhead 3-4 feet, eats more plants. Canvasback 3-6 feet, eats plants, inverts ... Very large egg for size of bird, 6-8, will parasitize each other and redheads ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Waterfowl What they are and are not


1
Waterfowl What they are and are not
  • Great variety in sizes, shapes, colors
  • All have webbed feet and bills
  • Sibley reading is great for lots of facts and
    insights into the group

2
Order Anseriformes
  • Family Anatidae
  • Subfamily Dendrocygninae
  • Subfamily Anserinae
  • Subfamily Anatinae -

3
Handout
  • Indicates those species occurring regularly in ID
  • Ducks
  • Geese
  • Swans

4
What separates the 3 groups?
  • Ducks -
  • Geese -
  • Swan -

5
What separates the 3 groups?
  • Ducks
  • Geese
  • Swan

6
Non-waterfowl
  • Cranes, rails
  • Coots
  • Grebes
  • Loons
  • Woodcock and snipe
  • These are not on handout but are
    managed by
  • USFWS as are waterfowl

7
On handout
  • Subfamily Dendrocygninae
  • Occur along gulf coast and Florida

8
On handout
  • Subfamily Anserinae geese and swans
  • Tribe Cygnini
  • Tribe Anserini

9
On handout
  • Subfamily Anatinae ducks, with 4 tribes
  • Tribe Anatini
  • Tribe Aythyini
  • Tribe Mergini
  • Tribe Oxyurini

10
Swans - Cygnini
  • Trumpeter swan and tundra swan
  • Monogamous
  • Territory for nesting
  • Feed

11
Swans
  • Largest waterfowl but how much do they weigh?
  • Tundra swan
  • Trumpeter swan
  • Long-lived species sexually mature at
  • Tundra
  • Trumpeter

12
Swans
  • Both species lay 4-5 eggs, only female incubates,
    31-33 days
  • Very high nest success 90
  • Why is nest success so high?

13
Swans differences between species
  • Voice, yellow spot in front of eye of Tundra
    sometimes
  • Tundra very social outside breeding season
    1000s, Trumpeter in small groups 20-50
  • Hunted?

14
Geese - Tribe Anserini
  • All show several similarities

15
Geese - Anserini
  • Migratory
  • During fall and winter the family unit stays
    together and in larger flocks
  • Winter behavior

16
Canada Goose Branta canadensis
  • 11 subspecies large or small, dark
  • These 5 are small and light
  • B.c. leucopareia Aleutian 4 lbs small
  • B.c. minima Cackling 2.8-3.4 small
  • B.c. hutchinsii Richardsons 4 small
  • B.c. taverneri Taverners 4.7-5.9 small
  • B.c. parvipes Lesser 5-6 small

17
Large subspecies
  • B.c. canadensis Atlantic 6.8-8.8
  • B.c. interior Todds 7-9
  • B.c. occidentalis Dusky 8-9 dark
  • B.c. fulva Vancouver 8-9 dark
  • B.c. moffitti Western 8-10
  • B.c. maxima Giant 11-12

18
Why are these subspecies important?
19
Canada Goose - Ecology
  • Monogamous
  • Breeding
  • Mortality
  • Grazing

20
Canada goose (cont.)
  • Pairing
  • Territorial
  • Nesting
  • Predators of eggs
  • Incubation
  • Renesting
  • Goslings

21
Subfamily Anatinae Ducks
  • Tribe Anatini
  • Only 2 genera in North America

22
Tribe Anatini - Dabblers
  • Dabblers all spring up off the water or land to
    fly
  • All dabble, or tip up, to feed, but many also
    feed on land
  • Rarely dive but can

23
Dabblers vs others
  • Dabblers Others
  • Legs
  • Feed
  • Hind toe
  • Foot
  • Speculum
  • Tail
  • Take off

24
Dabblers
  • Most field guides have the speculum much too
    visible for the bird at rest
  • Most field guides also have divers and sea ducks
    sitting too high in the water

25
Aix sponsa wood duck
  • Also called a perching duck

26
Anas
  • Highly social
  • All migratory
  • Winter
  • Forage
  • Nest
  • Pairs

27
Anas (cont.)
  • All incubate 21-27 days, young fly at 38-70 days
  • Teal, green and blue-winged lay 8-11 eggs
  • Cinnamon teal lays 7-12 eggs
  • Northern pintail lays 6-9 eggs, often nests far
    from water
  • Mallard lays 7-10 eggs, largest population in NA

28
Tribe Aythyini diving ducks or pochards (5
species)Genus Aythya
  • All dive for food
  • Nest
  • Sex ratios
  • Mating system
  • Male Parental Care

29
Aythya
  • Divide water area by depths and foods
  • Redhead 3-4 feet, eats more plants
  • Canvasback 3-6 feet, eats plants, inverts

30
Aythya
  • Divide water area by depths and foods
  • Redhead 3-4 feet, eats more plants
  • Canvasback 3-6 feet, eats plants, inverts
  • Ring-necked duck inverts
  • Greater scaup 6-15 ft, eats clams, often marine
  • Lesser scaup 10-40 ft, eats clams, inverts,
    snails

31
Aythya
  • Brood behavior when threatened
  • Divers vs dabblers
  • Dabblers - ?
  • Divers -?

32
Aythya
  • Brood behavior when threatened
  • Divers vs dabblers
  • Dabblers
  • Divers -

33
Redhead is a brood parasite
  • Female uses one of three strategies

34
Tribe Mergini sea ducks
  • Eiders, mergansers, scoters, goldeneyes,
    harlequin duck, long-tailed duck, bufflehead

35
Mergini (cont.) Eiders
  • Eiders are marine ducks of the arctic, rarely
    reaching coasts of lower 48 states except
  • common eider on Atlantic coast to NJ
  • king eider to WA and OR

36
Mergini (cont.) Scoters
  • Scoters pelagic, Atlantic and Pacific
    populations
  • black scoter, surf scoter, white-winged scoter
  • Eat mollusks, crustaceans, inverts, some seeds
  • Lay 5-9 eggs, broods fly at 50-75 days, form
    creches

37
Mergini (cont.) Mergansers
  • Sawbills, eat fish, sex ratio favors males
    (64-67)
  • breed at 2 years
  • Hooded merganser nests in cavities
  • Red-breasted merganser nests on ground,
    sometimes in burrows, or tree cavities
  • Common merganser nests in cavities, ground,
  • will sometimes scavenge dead fish

38
Mergini (cont.) - Goldeneyes
  • Common and Barrows Goldeneye, Bufflehead all
    genus Bucephala
  • All breed at 2 years, nest in cavities, eat
    inverts and mollusks

39
Mergini (cont.) - Long-tailed duck
  • Only member of genus Clangula in world
  • Deepest diving duck over 200 feet
  • Formerly called oldsquaw
  • Eats inverts, crustaceans, mollusks, fish
  • Outside of the breeding season, it is rarely
    inland, but stays on coasts

40
Mergini (cont.) Harlequin duck
  • Only member of this genus Histrionicus in world
  • nests along fast moving streams and rocky coasts
  • Walks on bottom, eats crustaceans, mollusks,
    aquatic invertebrates

41
Tribe Oxyurini Stiff-tailed Ducks
  • 8 species worldwide, one in NA ruddy duck
  • long, stiff tail
  • Large bills, clumsy on land, nest over water
  • Very large egg for size of bird, 6-8, will
    parasitize each other and redheads
  • Eat aquatic inverts, snail, plants in winter

42
The End
  • Waterfowl are wonderful!
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