Ducks are a species that heavily rely on their instinct, and they are known to travel to warmer places during the winter months. They migrate in the same pattern as their flock every year to their winter home. Duck migration occurs due to the decline in the availability of open water and food.
Migration is adaptive, and strategy hinged on finding food, water, and suitable conditions for breeding. Less food means a faster transition and the departure of ducks. They either migrate south or change local movement patterns in response to the declining open water and food availability.
Why do Ducks Migrate?
Most ducks are known to migrate to warmer places during the winter, but do you know why ducks migrate? It is partly because they find it tough to stay warm during the winter months and cannot find the proper food for their young ones.
Duck migration is also essential for breeding and laying eggs. If two of these birds mate in the winter cold and if their eggs are laid in the cold, the eggs would freeze, and the ducklings would not hatch. The primary reason for duck migration is survival.
They begin to migrate in the fall as the fall weather affects habitat conditions and food availability. When the seasons change, and when it’s warm again, they follow a northern migration and migrate back to their breeding homes. Ducks have a seasonal migration pattern and have a migration path along the usual migration routes that they follow.
How do Ducks Know When and Where to Migrate?
Ducks an instinctive species by natural selection, and they know when to migrate and what migration path to follow. They have a seasonal migration. Duck migration begins when they sense when the weather starts to get cold, and food resources start decreasing.
As the temperature starts decreasing, the ducks know it is time to move to a warmer place. According to the migration map, the Ducks go where they can find food, water, and safety.
Sometimes these ducks that migrate stay as long as these habitat qualities satisfy their needs. Ducks consider the migration path, migration routes, and the past sampling that is if the place they migrate is ideal for reproduction revealed good prospects for fitness. If sampling revealed suitable habitat, but the area is distant from the traditional migrating wintering areas, then as the process of migration is physically costly, they remain in their conventional winter homes. Until they become uninhabitable and the cold winter forces them southward.
When do Ducks Migrate?
In the summer months, ducks breed and raise their young in the north, where food is abundant. Ducks travel south to warmer climates in winter, according to the migration map. Duck migration begins at the start of winter when the weather starts to decrease.
They migrate from August through September. These ducks move to a warmer place, their winter home. They migrate back to their homes in October following northern migration. Permanent residents do not migrate and can withstand the cold climates and they can find adequate food supplies all throughout the year.
They follow seasonal migration, migrating from north to south during winter and back from south to north following northern migration after winter according to the migration map and the migration routes they follow. When extreme cold temperatures are setting in, ducks can sense that the ponds are going to freeze, and they move with the wind direction to reach more favorable conditions.
Factors That Influence Duck Migration
Photoperiod, that is, the proportion of daylight to darkness is an essential stimulus for migration. Duck migration is necessary to find food, which is mainly influenced by the change in season. They have a seasonal migration that is affected by photoperiod. Premigratory body conditioning, migratory restlessness, and associated activities predisposed ducks for migration. They use the position of the sun, stars, and landforms like rivers, coasts, and valleys to find their way back and forth.
They depend on wind direction and velocity to fly during migration. As the flight is energetically expensive, they can migrate more efficiently when they have a tailwind to help them fly. They detect warmer temperatures and know when to migrate by noticing how long the days are and how long it takes for the sun to come up again. They use air currents that are present to conserve energy for their long flights.
The long-distance migration of ducks according to the migration map and migration routes depend on the weather, food source, geography, day length, and availability of water.
Patterns
Duck migration happens along a flyway; this migration path and migration route are defined by natural water barriers like rivers, oceans, and seas. The ducks migrate by flying in a v-shaped formation.
This shape makes it easier to fly as they save energy by blocking the wind for others by taking turns leading the flock. It also allows them to keep track of all the ducks in the group. Ducks fly at the speed of forty to sixty miles per hour.
Ducks use wind currents if they need to increase their speed. They travel thousands of miles every migration season. The flock follows a preferred migration path when traveling; these pathways are often related to important stopover locations that provide food supplies.
Once they reach their warmer destination, they rest and find a mate. When it is close to the time they have to travel back, they eat and store up energy for their northern migration trip home. They use instincts to calculate when it is time to travel back home. Sometimes ducks move about in large groups even after reaching their winter home grounds. This phenomenon is bird irruption and occurs due to the depletion of available resources.
Season
Ducks have a seasonal migration pattern, a migration path, and a migration route. They do not start to migrate until fall, around August or September. Ducks get restless and start migrating in the fall season from September to November.
This is even before the cold weather sets in before the reduced food and water availability forces them southwards. This commences in spring from March when the day length affects the hormone levels of the ducks and starts the clock ticking.
The migration during the fall season is prompted by reproductive timing and molting. Short-term changes in weather habitat conditions trigger migratory changes. In the winter season, from December to February, they go to their breeding grounds in the southern hemisphere. After March, they go back to their non-breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere following northern migration. Migratory ducks travel during the day, the night, or continuously.
The migration map shows that the significant migratory route is the pacific flyway and the San Fransisco Bay Area is one of the most important stops on the west coast. The wetlands around San Pablo Bay provide substantial resting and feeding grounds for the migratory ducks.
The San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge preserves wetland habitats for resting, feeding, nesting, and wintering; therefore is especially vital to the survival of migratory birds.
Where do Ducks Live?
As the migration map shows, ducks have a cosmopolitan distribution that means that they are widely spread throughout the world in appropriate habitats. Different species of ducks have different habitat preferences, but primarily they are situated in water.
Ducks are also called waterfowls because they are found in places with water like marshes, lakes, ponds, oceans, and rivers. They are found everywhere except Antarctica, but they are densely populated in Northern America and Canada, and in the migratory season, they can be seen in the southern hemisphere.
Which Places do Ducks Migrate to?
As they follow a seasonal migration pattern, they fly from their summer grounds where they breed in the Arctic, Canada, North America, and Alaska to their wintering grounds in California and South America.
Few ducks nest here but migrate to milder climates in the south for the winter. Some ducks spend their winter in the marshes of San Francisco Bay and follow northern migration and go north to breed.
Other ducks do not migrate at all and stay north as permanent residents. Mottled Ducks do not migrate and live all through the year in relatively undisturbed wetlands along the Gulf Coast and the South Atlantic regions.
Food
Ducks are omnivores, their natural diet is aquatic vegetation like weeds found in ponds, seeds, grains, insects, worms, snails, slugs, mollusks, small crustaceans like crayfish, amphibians like frogs, tadpoles, and salamanders.
Also, they eat green vegetables, oats, bread, and rice. They also eat small fish and fish eggs. They are also known to accept berries, fruits, and nuts from people. Ducks have two strategies when they feed; they either dive or dabble for their diet.
Some duck species eat a specialized diet like fish. Most ducks eat insects in spring and summer as they provide nutrition for ducklings; in winter, they eat whatever food is available.
How to Identify Ducks?
Ducks are a species of waterfowl. Male ducks usually have colorful feathers while the female ducks blend in with their surroundings protecting them and the young ducklings from predators and hunters.
Diving Ducks
Ruddy Ducks and the Canvasback Ducks swim around in the lakes and ponds and completely dive underwater to feed off the plants, fish, and other small creatures that live below the surface of the water. Both Ruddy Ducks and Canvasback Ducks can swim underwater and can hold their breath for a minute or longer. The ducks that dive need a runway because their wings are small and further back on their body.
Dabbling Ducks
Ducks such as the Northern Shoveler feed off the water surface while swimming. Northern Shovelers and other dabbling ducks can take off straight and do not need a runway because their wings are larger and are easy for a quick take-off.
Mallards
Mallards are the most common wild duck found in North America. They are the ancestors of most of the domesticated ducks. It eats a variety of food, including seeds, roots of marsh plants, insects, snails, tadpoles, earthworms, and small fish. Male Mallards are identified by their green heads, white ring around their necks, and a blue patch on their wings. The female duck is mottled brown with a purple patch on its wing
Eiders
Eiders are sea ducks found in the arctic. They have a black round body, a yellow humped bill, a white neck, and a grey head with a tinge of green. They have lush feathers which provide insulating properties which protect them from the harsh cold.
Goldeneyes
Goldeneyes are also called whistlers because they produce a whistling sound when their rapidly beating their wings. They have long black backs marked with white sides and breasts. They have a dark green head with a distinguished golden eye and a white patch in front of their eye.
Mergansers
Mergansers are small streamlined sea ducks with a fan-shaped white-colored crest and a thin bill; they
have a brown body, white breast, and thin black wings and tail.
Perching Ducks
This duck has prominent talons on its webbed feet, which gives them a firm grip while perching on trees. They have brown bodies with a tinge of blue on their wings and pink ears. They have a small, sharp pink and black beak.
Scoters
Scoters are bulky sea ducks with a swollen bright yellow, red, and white-colored bill with a black patch and dark plumage having white patches on their neck and head.
Sea Ducks
Sea ducks can be found in coastal habitats. They come inland during nesting season and migration. Sea ducks have brown bodies and breasts with a white back, a brown neck, and a white head. They have a small black and red bill. They are bulky birds that help them tolerate the amount of salt in the seawater without dehydrating.
Stifftails
Stifftails have stiff, spiky tails, which they use as agile rudders when they swim. They have light brown bodies, blacktails, and blackheads with a white patch extending from their colorful blue beaks.
Teals
Teals are dabbling ducks. They have a brightly colored brown spotted body with a white end and black tail feathers. They have a brown neck and head with a black bill ending in white.
Whistling Ducks
Whistling ducks are tropical ducks. They have long legs and necks. They are known as Whistling ducks or the shrill whistling calls they make. These ducks have a dark brown bottom, a white middle, and a light brown top, a red-brown neck, and a light brown head. They have a red beak with a white end.
American Black Ducks
American Black Ducks have dark chocolate brown colored flanks, a pale grayish color face, and an olive-colored yellow bill.
Final Words
Duck migration is a beautiful phenomenon in nature. They do not need migration maps in order to find food or shelter.
The innate survival instincts are these birds need to survive the seasonal changes and the wilderness of nature. You can set goals to bird-watch for these ducks and record your results.Â
