It may surprise you to learn that as many as 16 different
species of ducks breed in northeastern Wisconsin. The great
majority head south for the winter but a few are present in this
region throughout the year.
The number-one nester in numbers, present in every county of
the state, is the blue-winged teal. Right now most of them are
in Central America and northern South America. Only one of the
16 species, the number-two nester in number, is present in every
county throughout the year, the mallard.
Charlotte and I have kept accurate day-to-day accounts of most
natural events including the birds that are seen on our property
and in the surrounding area. It was on the opening day of duck
hunting a few years ago that we had the surprise of the fall
season while recording a "first" bird visitor to our
yard.
You can imagine our surprise when we looked outside to
discover a drake mallard sitting in the middle of our bird bath
situated on the ground. As a matter of fact the duck practically
filled the garbage can lid that was replenished several times a
day for the normal "small" birds.
One of the duck’s wings hung downward leading us to believe
that the bird had been wounded earlier in the day by a duck
hunter and, somehow, had found refuge in our yard. Obviously it
was also lured to the water. Fortunately it flew away the
instant I stepped outdoors and that was the last we saw of the
beautiful creature.
Last week, on January 29, it began snowing here at noon. By
12:45 there was a hint of sun as a very light snow continued. By
1 p.m. 17 mallards (4 hens and 13 drakes) plus one black duck
discovered the cracked corn on our driveway and wasted little
precious time in devouring it. Bear in mind that our home is
located a minimum of five miles from the nearest open water of
Lake Michigan. Our friend, Tom Erdman, told us that, crows,
being very easy to see and to follow, are responsible for
inadvertently leading the mallards to our handout of food. Yes,
the crows also have been daily visitors to our front yard and
obviously mallards realize that crows are experts at locating
food.
After putting out more corn, we went for our two-mile hike at
3 p.m. and returned home by around 4 p.m. to find over 50
mallards busy gobbling up the corn. Apparently the 17 mallards
of 1 p.m. had spread the good word! All of them flew off in a
huff at our approach but within minutes after we had gone indoors
they were back.
What amused us was their method of making tighter and tighter
circles over our front yard until, finally, they landed in the
woods at least 150 feet from where the corn was scattered. The
tracks they made as they waddled through the six inches of loose
snow would have baffled even the best of the wild-animal
trackers. Needless to say, they have been back every day for our
handouts of food since the day of their first arrival.
To be perfectly honest, we have been putting out cracked corn
for many winters primarily to attract and to help feed mourning
doves, red-bellied woodpeckers, white-breasted nuthatches, blue
jays, ruffed grouse and several others. Mice, shrews and
cottontails eat it at night, and naturally the wild turkeys have
also been attracted to the much-relished food. Generally two or
three quarts are scattered during the day and, when that’s been
consumed, that’s it for the day. We have no intentions of
feeding a flock of 50+ mallards for the remainder of the winter!
You would think that these mallards, along with geese and
gulls, that stand on the ice for long periods of time would
quickly freeze their feet. In order to prevent this, nature has
provided that the arteries and veins in their feet and legs lie
against each other. Cold returning blood from their veins is
warmed by the arterial blood, thereby bringing about a rapid
replacement of heat loss. This same feature is also evident in
the bills of some northern species of birds.
By the way, the 16 species of wild ducks known to breed in
northeastern Wisconsin, some in greater numbers than others,
include: wood, green-winged teal, American black, mallard,
northern pintail, blue-winged teal, northern shoveler, gadwall,
American wigeon, redhead, ring-necked, common goldeneye, hooded
merganser, common merganser, red-breasted merganser and ruddy.
A few species, including the greater scaup and lesser scaup,
are occasionally seen during the summer in this region but are
thought to be non-breeding birds.
It was when I first began birding on a serious note that I
developed a habit that has helped me considerably in learning
birds better. Most of my early birdwatching outings were with
some of the Madison Audubon Society members. As soon as I
returned home I’d look into my bird reference books and read up
on the new "lifers" I had seen that morning.
This practice surely helped expand my knowledge of these new
birds. My very favorite reference, used to learn the ducks and
their relatives was,
The Ducks, Geese and Swans of North
America by Francis H. Kortright. The colored plates in
this book are excellent, the reference remains my favorite, and
fortunately it is still in print.
It won’t be long and the migratory ducks will be returning to
Wisconsin. Now is a good time to start reviewing this beautiful,
fascinating, and sometimes downright unpredictable group of
birds.
The mallards of winter, ready and waiting for a handout
This column appeared in the Door County Advocate on 02/11/2000.
© Copyright 2000 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.
