Nature Bulletin No. 252-A   January 14, 1967
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Richard B. Ogilvie, President
Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt. of Conservation

****:WINTER DUCKS

All through the winter, along the shores of Lakes Michigan, Ontario and 
Erie, considerable numbers of wild ducks may be seen in areas of open 
water. Favored locations are those comparatively free from pollution 
and kept free of ice by the continual discharge, into the lake, of warm 
water from large stations generating electric power. They are also 
commonly seen near Lincoln Park in Chicago, attracted there by the 
feed put out for the captive wild ducks and geese in those lagoons. 
Every year, expert observers report a few stragglers of several kinds 
which mostly migrate to regions farther south and, occasionally, one or 
more kinds usually found only on the Atlantic or Pacific coastlines. 
Most of the ducks that winter here are of four species the American 
Golden-eye, the Old Squaw, the White-winged Scoter, and the 
American Merganser.

The first three belong to a group known as the Diving Ducks which 
inhabit the larger inland lakes and the sea coasts where they feed by 
diving, often to considerable depths. Other than a few Black Ducks, 
seldom do we find wintering here any members of the other large group 
known as Surface-feeding Ducks or, locally, as "puddle" ducks or 
"dipper" ducks because they frequent the shallow fresh waters of the 
interiors and feed by up-ending themselves to dabble on the bottom.

Most diving ducks taste "fishy", and are hunted solely for sport, 
because their food consists mainly of shellfish, crustaceans, small fish, 
some insects, and small amounts of deep-water aquatic plants. Two 
notable exceptions are the Redhead and the Canvasback. The wing 
patch, if any, is less brightly colored on the diving ducks and the legs 
are set farther back on the body -- which increases their ability to dive 
and swim. Most of them patter along on the surface of the water for 
some distance before rising into flight.

The American golden-eye is also known as the "whistler" because of 
the vibrating whistling sound made by its wings in flight. On the water, 
the male appears mainly white, with some black on the back, and its 
large blackhead has a round white spot in front of the golden-yellow 
eye. Most of them breed in Canada, from Newfoundland to Alaska, and 
this is one of the few ducks that invariably nests in a hollow tree or 
stump.

The old squaw, so-called because it is a noisy talkative duck, is 
distinguished by its very long tail and its peculiar twisting flight just 
above the water. They alight by dropping in suddenly with a great 
splash. They nest on the ground in the sub-Arctic tundras and nearly 
nine-tenths of their food is animal.

The white-winged scoter is a large black duck with a small white patch 
near the eye and a white wing patch -- our only black duck so marked. 
It nests on the ground in western Canada and its food is almost entirely 
animal -- chiefly mollusks which it swallows whole. Shells of oysters, 
scallops and mussels that require a hard hammer-blow to break, are 
readily ground-up in its gizzard.

The American merganser has a stream-lined body and a narrow 
cylindrical bill -- red and toothed -- which enables it to dive, pursue and 
catch the fish upon which it feeds almost exclusively. This large 
handsome bird flies swiftly, low over the water, with its bill, head, neck 
and body all held perfectly horizontal.  They nest in trees, cliffs or on 
the ground.

We'll take our oysters on the half-shell.