Duck Facts

 I posted this week about the ducks swimming in the cold water surrounded by ice and snow around my place. I decided to look up some facts about ducks and…here they are. By the way apparently ducks have a system with their arteries so that warm blood flows from their heart and interweaves with the cold blood that is coming from their feet warming the blood. Therefore it keeps their feet and legs warm.

A girl duck makes a loud quack sound while the boy duck, or drake has a raspy, muffled call. 

Touching a duckling doesn’t prevent the mother duck from taking care of it. It is however best to leave ducklings alone so as not to scare the Mom duck away or accidentally injure them. 
     
Ducks sleep with half their brains awake. Ducks are more likely to sleep with one eye open when they are located on the edge of sleeping groups. They can detect predators in less than a second.

Duck eggshells have tiny holes (pores) that allow it to breathe. A hen’s eggs can have 7500 pores, most found at the blunt end of the egg. Respiratory gases as well as water vapor travel through these pores allowing the egg to breathe.

 Ducks can live 20 or more years with good care and feeding. Apparently the world’s record is held by a Mallard Drake that lives 37 years. Now thats a long time!

  Baby ducks are precocial, meaning they are born with their eyes wide open, with a warm layer of down, and are not fully dependant on their parents for food.   Ducklings are ready to leave the nest within hours of hatching.

 A clutch is the total number of eggs laid by one bird during one nesting session. Clutch size affected by hereditary and environmental factors.   When food is abundant, birds lay more eggs.

  A brood is the total number of hatchlings, or ducklings in a clutch.

 Ducks have very good vision, and they can even see in colour.

 Did you know that a duck’s quack doesn’t echo? Nobody knows why.

I hope you’ve found these facts interesting… and that you have a lovely day.   Judi xoxo