Duck with yellow beak. What types of ducks are

A favorite object of hunting at all times were wild ducks. The meat of this bird is tasty and nutritious, and it can be found in almost any body of water.

To hunt successfully, you need to know well the habits and features that distinguish the varieties of wild ducks.

Appearance

Wild ducks are closely connected with water, this is evidenced by their habits, lifestyle and structure. The wings of this bird are suitable only for small flights, they are not wide and rather short. This shape of the wings is optimal for diving, as is the structure of the paws, the front three fingers of which are connected by swimming membranes.

The duck family does not differ in particularly large sizes, the average weight of an adult is from 500 to 2000 gr.

In most species, sexual dimorphism in plumage is pronounced, which is most noticeable during the pairing period - in winter and spring. After molting, males are more similar to females. In drakes and single females, molting is very intense - the bird even loses the ability to fly for a while, losing both flight and tail feathers. In females with a brood, molting is much slower and does not deprive them of the ability to fly, but begins only after the ducklings fledge.

Nutrition

The diet of this bird consists of aquatic plants, fish, insects, small aquatic animals - crustaceans and mollusks, which it extracts from water and from the bottom of reservoirs. What do wild ducks eat in winter and early spring, when there is ice and it is difficult to get food from the water? At this time, ducks feed on the stems and seeds of coastal plants. In the warm season, fruits and berries from shrubs and trees growing near water bodies are added to the menu.

Ducks can be called orderlies of reservoirs. Due to the fact that birds eat mosquito larvae in large quantities, this significantly reduces the reproduction of insects.

reproduction

Wild ducks start laying eggs in spring, from April to May. On the day, the female brings one egg, after 8-12 eggs are recruited, the female sits on the nest and waits for the ducklings to appear. Incubation lasts an average of 25-30 days, ducklings hatch almost simultaneously.

Basically, all species of wild ducks nest singly, arranging their nests on the ground. Only tangerines, mergansers and goldeneyes nest in hollows of trees, shelducks rush in holes, and shelducks bury their eggs in the ground. The northern duck, the common eider, during the nesting period, lives in colonies that number up to one hundred individuals.

Almost all types of ducks can lay eggs in other people's nests and, often, females hatch both their own and other people's eggs. The females take care of the offspring, and only in the shelducks and shelducks do the males help to care for the chicks.

habitats

The duck family chooses places to live near water bodies. Wetlands, streams, bays, lakes and rivers rich in coastal vegetation are ideal places. This bird does not settle in those places where there is nowhere to hide. On fast rivers and reservoirs with bare banks, this bird cannot be found.

Wild ducks quickly get used to people and willingly settle near city water bodies. They make contact with a person and accept treats with pleasure.

flights

Ducks are migratory birds migrating after food. With the onset of cold weather, it becomes more and more difficult to get food and the birds, in search of food, are removed from their homes and begin migration, heading south. In the spring, flocks go home. It is worth noting that ducks living at the equator and in southern latitudes also migrate, fleeing from drought and heat.

Flights begin after the young have taken to the wings, are strong and ready for long flights. At the time of the flight, the flock moves behind the leader, in a clear order. Migration routes pass through places rich in food.

Object of hunting

On the territory of Russia and the CIS, there are various types of ducks (about forty). Approximately thirty species are widely distributed; these breeds of wild ducks are the object of commercial and sport hunting.

A bird of the duck family is prey for hunters not only because of the meat. The sea duck, the common eider, for example, is valued for its down. Eggs of shelducks and goldeneyes are harvested in some regions, and the colorful mandarin duck is bred for ornamental purposes.

river views

The river variety of ducks is distinguished by a high landing in the water and a tail raised above the water. In search of food, they do not dive, but only half plunge into the water, leaving their tail above the surface of the water. Take off almost vertically, without takeoff. In flight, the difference from diving is especially noticeable due to the longer neck, tail and wings. Build in a flock is rarely kept.

Shirokonoska

It is distinguished by an extended spade-shaped beak. It flies somewhat clumsily and slowly, slightly tilting its head down. Drakes are very beautiful: against the background of a white breast, a dark green head and neck stand out, the sides and abdomen are red. Blue wings in front and a bright green "mirror". The females are reddish brown. The paws of the birds are bright orange. They are considered the most careless of the river species.

Mallard

Duck wild mallard is familiar to all hunters, it is the largest river species. In spring, the drake has an emerald green head, a white collar, a brown breast, and a gray body. The male is lighter than the female. The legs of the mallard are orange, the beak is yellow. Males have longer necks and hold their heads up high.

black mallard

Habitat - south of the Far East and Siberia. They do not differ in size from the common mallard. Its peculiarity is that drakes do not differ from females, since they do not have a marriage color. They are distinguished by black beaks with yellow spots on the top. In flight, white spots on the wings are clearly visible.

Pintail

A rather large duck, males are larger than females, with a long neck and an awl-like tail, which is why the bird got its name. The back and head are brown. The rest of the neck, crop and lower body are bright white. The female is grey.

teal whistle

The teal duck is the smallest among the river ducks. The male has a brownish-red head with a wide band of green from the eyes to the back of the head. The female is grey. At dusk, the male can be distinguished by a white stripe on the shoulder and a whitish tail between the end of the tail and the abdomen.

Teal crackling

This species lives in the forest belt. Both the drake and the female have large "mirrors" of green color, which are more pronounced in males. In summer, the male differs from the female in the gray-blue top of the wings and shoulders.

Marbled or narrow-nosed teal

Habitat - Central Asia and the coast of the Caspian Sea. Average weight 500 gr. The plumage is gray-brown, lighter on the abdomen, the same in females and males. The beak is gray, the legs are brownish-brown. The male is distinguished by a small crest on the back of the head and light spots around the eyes. Often sit on the branches of bushes and trees growing near the water, unlike other types of teals.

gray duck

The bird is larger than a teal, grayish in color. The male differs from the female in bluish wings and lighter plumage. Mating attire in male: reddish head, white stripe from eyes to nape. The female has a rather long beak with a white spot on the side. In the dark, the drake can be distinguished from the female by the frequent lifting of its head along with the crackling sound it makes.

wigeon

The bird is medium in size, distinguished by a bright white belly and a short beak. The head of the drake is reddish, the forehead is yellowish-golden, the chest is chestnut-red. The female wigeon is very similar to the gray duck, differs from it in dark brown "mirrors" on the wings.

The drake makes sharp sounds like a whistle, and the voice of the female is like a croak.

killer whale

Habitat - the Far East, Eastern Siberia and Kamchatka. Average weight - 800 gr. The killer whale has a black beak, gray legs with dark membranes. The female is similar to the mallard duck, differing in the color of the legs and beak. The male retains bright "mirrors" on the wings even in summer. The voice is somewhat reminiscent of the whistle of a curlew.

crohali

The merganser duck differs from other species in its narrow beak, ending in a claw bent downwards. Along the edges of the beak are pointed horny teeth.

big merganser

This species lives in the forest zone. Weight reaches two kilograms. On the head are elongated feathers that form a wide double crest in the female. "Mirrors" are white, beak is red, legs are orange. In summer, the male can be distinguished by the white feathers on the wings. When a flying bird flaps its wings, it makes sounds similar to a whistle.

Middle merganser

For habitat chooses the northern parts of the forest zone. Weighs about a kilogram. The beak is red, the legs are reddish-orange. On the back of the head is a developed double crest. In summer, males are distinguished by a dark back.

scaly merganser

A rare species found only in the south of the Far East. Outwardly similar to the average merganser. Differs in smaller sizes, a gray beak and a wide crest, more developed in females. In summer, the male has white spots on the back of the head.

diving

The subfamily of ducks has a category - diving duck. They got their name for the way they get food - by diving. This northern duck lives in the Northern Hemisphere, the largest population is in North America. Diving ducks are divided into several types: marbled teals, dives, ducks and pink-headed ducks. All species, except for teals, have colorful, bright plumage and look spectacular against the background of the landscape.

marble teal

The average weight of an adult is 600 gr. The female and male are the same coloration. The plumage is grayish-brown with light spots. When a bird is on the water, its tail is raised. Marbled teals dive quite deep, sometimes perching on trees. For life, they choose reservoirs with reeds and shrubs along the banks. Habitat - Russia, India, Asia, Spain.

Diving

The diving duck is medium in size, has a short neck and a large head. It sits low on the water, feeding mainly by diving. Duck dive small size, average weight - 900 gr. The female looks like a gray duck, the male has a bright head and a light breast. Males are larger than females and more brightly colored. The red-eyed diving duck, the red-nosed and pampas dive stand out.

Habitat - temperate climate zone, mainly taiga and forest-steppe of Russia.

Cherneti

Ducklings outwardly resemble divers, this can be seen in the name of some species. Stocky birds of small size with a large head on a short neck. The black beak is gray or black, legs with leathery membranes, dark gray. All subspecies have a light stripe on the wings. Ducks rarely go to land, they spend most of their time on the water. When diving, they can submerge half or completely.

Five species are found in Russia: black sea, crested, red-headed, rem and white-eyed pochard. Overflight in Russia is an American dive.

More species: long-nosed red-headed, Madagascar, Australian dive, small sea, New Zealand and collared black.

pink-headed duck

The pink-headed (red-headed duck) is unofficially classified as an extinct species. The last living specimen was seen over seventy years ago. Ornithologists have been unsuccessfully trying to find this species. Some of them believe that this bird lives in inaccessible swamps in northern Myanmar.

Video

You will find a lot of interesting information about the varieties of wild ducks in the videos below.

Different types of ducks with different names live on our planet, but their main difference is that they belong to domestic or wild ducks. Domestic ducks are grown for meat, eggs and feathers, wild ducks serve as an object of hunting. In addition to meat, wild ducks allow a person to realize the instinct of a hunter, to experience a sense of excitement and satisfaction from good prey, although it cannot be said that ducks themselves like this process.

domesticated species

For many centuries of his agricultural experience, man has not only domesticated wild ducks, but also created their new species and breeds. At the same time, he tried to improve the positive qualities of the parental basis and get rid of its shortcomings. As a result, a great variety of breeds of domestic ducks appeared, which in appearance are not much different from wild ducks, but surpass them in precocity, weight and quality of meat.

These breeds include those domesticated back in the 16th century by the Aztecs of South America. Later, Muscovy ducks began to be bred in European countries, Mexico and the United States. Muscovy ducks were brought to Russia in 1981 from the GDR, and from France in 1988.

In Russia, musky ducks are called indo-ducks - either because they were tamed by the Indians of South America, or because they are considered hybrids of turkeys and ducks, or perhaps because of a leathery growth on their heads, like turkeys.

The appearance of musky ducks is not too different from other species - their plumage can be white, black, fawn, black with white wings. Muscovy ducks have fleshy coral-red growths on their heads.

Indo-duck males gain weight up to 6 kg, females less - 2-3 kg. The body length of musky ducks is 80 cm for drakes and 60-65 cm for females.

The most important advantage of domestic musky ducks is their tasty and lean meat, although they also have other advantages - noiselessness, cleanliness, the ability to incubate eggs and raise young.

The disadvantages of indo-ducks include their thermophilicity, and low precocity - they grow more slowly than other domestic ducks. But this did not prevent them from becoming the basis for breeding new early-ripening hybrids - mulard ducks.

- the most common breed of domestic ducks, which is valued for high-quality meat. Peking ducks are grown all over the world, including in Russia.

The bird of this breed has a long head, an elongated beak of orange or yellow color, in old individuals the color becomes faded, light yellow. The eyes are dark, the neck is of medium length, slightly arched. The body is long and wide, without fat folds. The wings fit snugly to the body, the legs are of medium length, dark orange in color. Feathers are white. Adult Peking ducks weigh 4-5 kg, eggs weigh 85-90 grams.

The white Moscow breed was bred with the participation of Pekin ducks, and inherited from them the white color of feathers and appearance, but their weight is slightly lower - 3.5 kg for drakes, and 3.3 kg for females. Ducks give 120-130 eggs weighing 95-100 grams during the egg-laying period. In popularity in Russia, the white Moscow duck is not inferior to the Beijing duck.

Khaki Campbell - this breed of domestic ducks with beautiful plumage was bred in England. The drakes have brown feathers on the body, and the head is dark green with a sheen. Drakes weigh 3-3.3 kg, ducks - 2-2.5 kg.

The breed does not differ in precocity, birds gain slaughter weight at the age of 5-6 months, during the same period they begin to lay eggs. But khaki campbells are good laying hens, one individual produces up to 300 eggs per year.

The mirror breed of ducks was bred on the basis of domestic ducks - khaki campbell and Peking duck in Russia at the Kuchinskaya poultry farm, in the 50s of the last century.

This is a meat breed with excellent meat taste and good early maturity. In addition, the mirror duck has a beautiful appearance due to the original plumage. Some representatives of the mirror breed have white, gray or silver plumage.

Ducks of the mirror breed are medium-heavy, the weight of an adult drake reaches 4 kg, ducks 3-3.5 kg. Egg production reaches 200 eggs per year, white-shelled eggs weigh about 90-95 grams - therefore, the breed can be called universal, meat and egg. Moreover, the fertility of eggs reaches 80%, and the safety of ducklings is 95%.

Despite the high scores on the main criteria and external beauty, mirror ducks have not become very popular in Russia, they are mainly grown in small farms or at home.

The physique of the mirror duck is medium, the body is wide and long, the head is small, the neck is short and not thick, the beak is straight, the legs are of medium length, feathered. The wings are poorly developed, the tail is small, slightly raised at the base.

The Ukrainian breed of ducks is distinguished by gray, clay or white plumage. Drakes have dark gray feathers in the head area, and a white ring on the neck. The wings are strong, tightly pressed to the body, with a blue stripe. Females have two dark brown stripes on their heads, the rest of the feathers are light brown, and they also have blue stripes on their wings.

Ukrainian ducks are advantageous for their unpretentiousness to the conditions of keeping and feed, they can find their own food in the reservoirs. Adult drakes grow up to 4 kg, females - up to 3.5 kg. For a year they give 100-120 eggs weighing 90 grams.

Indian runners are a breed of domestic ducks with an upright stance, bred by breeders in India. Representatives of the breed move very quickly, for which they were called runners. When walking, runners do not pump from side to side, like ducks of other breeds, and their whole appearance resembles penguins, see the photo.

The color of Indian runners can be different - partridge, gray with a green head and a blue stripe on the wings.

Indian runners are an egg-laying breed, for a year one laying hen brings up to 230 eggs weighing 80 grams. The live weight of adult drakes is within 2 kilograms, females - one and a half kilograms.

Free Bird

Wild ducks live and breed in natural conditions, and serve as an object for hunting, sometimes they are grown in hunting grounds, and also exclusively for hunting. In Russia and the CIS countries, you can hunt several types of ducks, we will tell you more about them.

Perhaps the most popular wild duck is the mallard - they are among the first to arrive in Russia from the south in early spring, when the snow is just beginning to melt. March is the start of mallard hunting season.

How are ducks of this species different? They have a long and strong body about 60 cm long. The drake has a mother-of-pearl green head and neck, and a white rim around the neck. Females are brown, variegated in color, which contributes to their good camouflage. The body length of the female is up to 50 cm.

From the appearance of the first greenery, mallards graze in small groups on the banks of reservoirs; at this time they rarely enter the water. Females lay eggs in nests arranged in reeds, and from mid-April they begin to incubate them.

The drakes remain in sight and continue to carelessly pluck the grass, where the hunters shoot them.

Ducklings appear in the summer and quickly gain weight, so by the end of September, before the departure of the hunters, a new hunting season begins, which lasts until October.

The black mallard flies to Siberia and the Far East for the summer; it differs from the common mallard only in color. In black mallard drakes, the color is the same as in females, but there are yellow spots on the black beaks, and during the flight the spots are clearly visible on the wings.

The wigeon is another type of wild duck for hunting. Ducks got their name from the sounds they make when they fly. At this time, they pronounce the lingering “svii-svii”, during the mating season, a sharper “ker” or “krrr”.

The wigeon has a light color, while the drake has a dark head. Their weight is small, they are mobile, fast-flying birds. To track down and shoot a wigeon during the flight is considered by hunters to be a special luck and valor.

Unlike careless mallards, wigeons are shy ducks; they settle in secluded places, for example, in thickets of bushes, tall grass or reeds that have access to water. In the same place they make clutch and incubate chicks. Ducklings appear in July, and after two months they gain weight suitable for hunting. At two months they begin to fly, and the second hunting season for the wigeon begins in October, before departure.

Teal - These ducks got their name from the sound "teal, teal". There are several subspecies of teals:

• Whistlers - a green stripe along the line of the eyes is clearly visible in the drake. The mating games of whistlers last quite a long time to attract the attention of females, males perform complex pirouettes in the air and on the ground, forgetting about the danger. This is used by hunters who ruthlessly shoot the bird.
• The crackling is distinguished by a white stripe on its head, their mating games are accompanied by noise and crackling, hence the name of the subspecies.
• Kloktunok rarely arrives in Russia, among hunters it is considered a rare and especially valuable trophy. The head of a kloktunk drake is decorated with spots of golden emerald color. Kloktunks nest in China and Sakhalin.
• The marbled teal is small in size - an adult bird weighs only about 500 grams, so it is not the most attractive object for hunting. In Russia, the marbled teal breeds in the lower reaches of the Volga and near the Caspian Sea, but for the last 15-20 years it has been considered an endangered species here. The marbled teal spends most of its time on the water, it swims well, dives deep, and easily gets its food - duckweed and aquatic insects.

Krokhal is another object of hunting. Three types of merganser live in nature - large, long-nosed and scaly. The big one most often settles in the forest zone - these are large ducks with a body length of up to 70 cm in drakes and 65 cm in females. But their weight is small - about 1.5 kg.

The long-nosed merganser nests in the northern forest areas, its body size is 60 and 55 cm in drakes and females, respectively. The weight of an adult bird is about 1 kg.

The scaly merganser flies to the Far East. This is a small bird, with a body length of 40 cm and a weight of about 500 grams. The females of this subspecies have a large crest on their heads.

Hunting for waterfowl requires from the hunter great endurance, dexterity, ingenuity, the ability to use the oar well and swim, and most importantly, the art of quick and accurate shooting at the rushing teal or red-headed dives, at the risen mallards or at the swooping flock of white-sided goldeneyes. Most of the hunters fired their first shots at ducks. And their first trophy - a smartly dressed drake thumping into the water - fixed their hunting passion for life. Every conscientious hunter must strictly observe the hunting laws, not violate the terms of hunting, not exceed the norms of shooting, vigorously fight against poachers and all those who harm the hunting business.

It is the duty of every hunter to personally participate in all kinds of reproductive activities: in feeding wild animals and birds, in creating favorable conditions for their life and reproduction, in the protection of hunting grounds. Unfortunately, we still have quite a few hunters who believe that we should take care not of migratory game, but of settled game, that ducks and other migratory birds are our temporary guests, flying away to warmer climes in autumn, and therefore influence their numbers. we don't have any options. This view is completely wrong.

For ducks nesting in our country, reservoirs serve as the main home in which they live for a long time, raise offspring, and only temporarily, for the winter, are forced to fly to warmer climes. In addition, young, newly born ducks are more likely to be exposed to all sorts of dangers than old, cautious and more experienced ones. Therefore, the most dangerous period in the life of ducks is the period from the moment they hatch from eggs to full maturity, usually coinciding with the time of departure for the winter. From this follows the conclusion that the greatest attention to ducks, to their protection and protection from unreasonable extermination should be shown during their stay in our country for nesting. This, of course, does not exclude the care of ducks in wintering areas. There should be no hunting at all in wintering areas.

It is generally accepted that 41 species of various ducks live in our country or have ever met on the migration. However, such a duck as the crested shelduck has died out almost everywhere, and has not appeared in our country since the last century. The American wigeon, the Icelandic goldeneye and the tadpole goldeneye only occasionally flew to us.

The scaly merganser and the variegated scoter are extremely rare in our country. It is also impossible to consider 4 species of eider nesting on the northern sea coasts as objects of hunting. Thus, only 31 species of ducks can be considered the object of duck hunting, which the hunter has to meet on the hunting trail and which he needs to know. Consider eleven so-called real or river ducks. For clarity, along with the listing of names and descriptions of varieties, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the photo.

The most common and most popular among hunters is undoubtedly the common mallard. In some places it is also called kryakush, kryzhen, seasoned duck, pitching. This duck nests and occurs on migration almost throughout the entire territory of our country. She is the progenitor of domestic ducks. The mallard is a rather large duck, in autumn it reaches a weight of 1700 grams. In breeding attire, the mallard drake is very beautiful. Its head and neck are covered with shiny dark green feathers with a metallic sheen, and there is a white collar in the middle of the neck. The forechest and craw are dark brown. The belly and sides are grayish-white, with small transverse striate stripes. The front of the back and the back of the neck are brownish-gray with lighter stripes. The back part of the back is black-brown, the uppertail is gray-black, shiny, the undertail is velvety black. The middle tail feathers are bent up in a semicircle and form braids. On the wings are pronounced shiny purple mirrors with a metallic sheen, bordered on both sides with black and white stripes. The beak is greenish, the legs are caral-red. A duck, a young drake and a drake that has changed its breeding plumage are painted in grayish-brown and ocher tones, speckled with black spots. The underwing of the wings by the hunters is shuffling, which also almost does not differ from the voice of the domestic drake.

Mallards are migratory birds. They winter in the south of Europe, in Africa, Asia, and also in the southern regions of our country. Quite often, mallards remain to winter in their nesting places - on non-freezing rivers. Mallard ducks fly to nesting sites in early spring, often even when there is snow in the forests and even in glades, and ice has not passed on the reservoirs. They fly to wintering places late, lingering on migration until the end of October, and sometimes until mid-November.

Mallard duck with brood

In the spring, shortly after arriving at the nesting sites, mallards break into pairs and start breeding. This process is accompanied by a kind of current: the drake and the duck take bizarre poses and make original movements with a return of the voice. Similar mating games in the spring can be observed in most other wild ducks. While the female is laying her eggs, the drake stays close to the nest. Shortly after the end of the mating season, the drake begins to molt, and he goes into the thickets. The duck usually arranges its nest near a reservoir, but sometimes it can also be found in the forest, in hollows of trees. The mallard builds a nest very carefully, using dry grass, reeds, weeds for construction. The duck nest tray is densely covered with its own fluff. Leaving the nest during incubation, the duck securely covers the eggs with fluff. The number of eggs in a clutch usually ranges from eight to twelve. Incubation lasts 26 days. Mallard chicks hatch from eggs almost simultaneously, and after 12-15 hours they leave the nest and head for the mark in the dense thickets of the river. From the first days of their birth, ducklings swim and dive perfectly. At first they feed mainly on small insects and larvae, but gradually their diet is replenished with plant foods.

Yellow-nosed or black mallard

The mallard drake, like the drakes of other ducks, except for the shelduck and shelduck, does not take any part in caring for offspring. The mother tenderly takes care of the cubs, selflessly protects them from enemies. Ducklings develop quite quickly and by the age of one month they already weigh 500-600 grams. Young growth gradually fledges. The last of all, flight feathers grow in him, and therefore ducklings that have grown up and matured for some time cannot yet fly. Fleeing from danger and quickly running away through the water, they vigorously flap their unfeathered wings, for which they received the name of slappers or slappers from hunters. By the age of two months, mallard ducklings, together with the stark, begin to fly. The mallard has many enemies. Her nests are destroyed by foxes and raccoon dogs, crows and marsh harriers, and in the first days after leaving the nest, ducklings also suffer from pikes. Sometimes a duck, in the event of the death of the first clutch of eggs, makes a second one, building a new nest for this. There are always fewer eggs in the second clutch than in the first. Mallards, like other ducks (except long-tailed duck), molt twice a year.

The first molt, the so-called post-marital, is complete. During it, many mallards lose their ability to fly due to the loss of flight feathers. The second molt, the so-called premarital molt, is incomplete (it occurs in the fall, when the drakes dress in their wedding attire and wear it until the beginning of the next summer, that is, before the postmarital molt). During molting, mallards sometimes gather in large groups in well-protected, abundantly overgrown with reed and sedge reservoirs. After the young rise to the wing, and the old ones finish the molt, the mallards fly twice a day: in the evening - to feeding places, and in the early morning - for days. Forage places for them are both reservoirs and grain fields. Places for daytime are usually well-protected by vegetation and hard-to-reach reservoirs. You can find these places by the abundance of fallen feathers and influxes (traces) in duckweed.

On flights, the widespread methods of hunting in the morning and evening dawns are based. Closer to departure, broods of mallards, connecting with each other, form flocks, which in late autumn go to wintering grounds, sometimes stopping for quite a long time on migration in intermediate areas. A close relative of our mallard lives in the Far East, a subspecies of the yellow-nosed mallard, the so-called black mallard. It is inferior in size to the common mallard, and in contrast to it, the black mallard drake does not dress in marriage attire and its plumage is almost the same as that of a duck. Both sexes are somewhat darker and dimmer than the common mallard duck; they have white spots on their wings. The way of life of the black mallard has not yet been sufficiently studied and, according to the available data, differs little from the way of life of the common mallard.

In some places this duck is called serukha, serushka, half-mallard, half-mature, semenukha and nerezny. The gray duck is significantly inferior in size to the mallard - its weight, as a rule, does not exceed a kilogram. The drake in breeding plumage has a brownish-gray head, mottled with small dark specks. The neck and sides of the body are gray, with thin black stripes. The back is gray-brown, the uppertail and undertail are velvety black. The chin and neck are yellowish, gradually turning into a reddish color. The craw and upper breast are blackish gray, bordered with black and white. The lower part of the chest is whitish, the wings are gray in different shades. The underwings are white, the beak is gray, and the paws are yellow with dark webs. The duck is colored more uniformly: it is dominated by brown, yellow and black colors, speckled with borders, transverse stripes and longitudinal streaks. The beak is yellowish, the paws are dirty yellow with dark membranes. In our country, the gray duck is less common than the mallard.

It is common in the eastern and southeastern regions, in the central regions it nests in smaller numbers, and in the western regions it is extremely rare. Keeps mainly in oxbow lakes, forest deaf lakes and in reservoirs with stagnant water. Winters mostly outside of Russia. In our country, it is found on wintering grounds in Transcaucasia and the Caspian Sea. Gray duck nests are arranged on the ground, sometimes quite far from the reservoir, in bushes or weeds. Ducklings hatched from eggs, having barely dried out, together with the uterus go to the reservoir. If two or more broods of serukh live in a reservoir, they often unite into one flock. In this case, all ducks take care of the united ducklings. Gray ducks feed mainly on plant foods, less often on animals. Matured broods often fly out to feed on grain fields. The voice of the gray duck resembles the voice of the mallard, but it is more crackling and sounds sharper. The voice of a drake is similar to the muffled croak of a raven. In all other respects, in terms of lifestyle, the gray duck resembles a mallard, although it is more trusting than the latter. The flight of the gray duck is light, fast and not as noisy as that of the mallard.

Among hunters, it is often called the ostrichtail and pintail. In our country, it is widely distributed in the forest-tundra, forest belt, in the central and eastern regions, somewhat less frequently in the southern regions. The pintail is colored very uniformly - in gray and brownish tones, has a gray beak and gray paws. Approximately the same plumage is in young drakes and in old drakes that have molted after the mating season. In breeding plumage, the drake is exceptionally beautiful. Its head is bright brown, the goiter, front of the neck and chest are pure white, the sides, back and back of the neck are gray with dark streaked stripes, the belly is whitish-gray. The upper (covert) tail feathers of the drake are black. The middle tail feathers are elongated and pointed in the form of an awl, which was the reason for the name of this duck. On the sides of the head from the back of the head to the neck are two pronounced white stripes. The beak of the drake is bluish-gray, the paws are gray. Pintails usually break into pairs before arrival at nesting sites. Pintail nests are built close to a body of water, often in open and dry areas. Drakes during the duck's incubation of eggs for the first time stay close to the nest, and with the onset of molting they leave the nesting area and clog in the support.

Ducklings grow quickly and by the beginning of the hunting season they are on the wing. Pintails feed on both animal and plant foods. The size of the pintail is inferior to the mallard, reaching a weight of a little over a kilogram. On the water, a drake dressed in a breeding feather looks somewhat larger than a mallard, mainly because of the long neck and elongated tail. Many hunters, not without reason, consider the pintail a more valuable trophy than the mallard, because of its beautiful appearance, fast flight and excellent meat, superior in taste to that of mallard ducks. Shirokonoska. In some places it is called carpenter, lo-ponoskoy and soxun. The duck is of medium size, its weight before leaving for the winter does not exceed 800-850 grams. It differs from other ducks in the device of the beak, which is disproportionately wide in the shoveler (much more than in the mallard) and resembles an oar, greatly expanding from the base to the top. The plumage of a duck resembles a mallard.

The head and neck of the drake are black, with a purple-blue tint on the sides. The back, undertail and rump are brilliant black. The goiter is white, chest and sides are light brown. There are white markings on the back, the shoulders are dressed with white feathers. The beak is black, the paws are orange-red, the mirror is green with a metallic sheen. The shoveler nests close to water. Shiro konoska feeds mainly on animal food. The voice of the broad-nosed duck resembles the quacking of a domestic duck, but is more muffled and monotonous. The drake emits a dull cluck, similar to the sounds of "kho-kho-kho". The broad-nosed rokonokos are less talkative than other ducks, and their voices can only be heard in spring. The broad-nosed duck is hunted a lot, although shooting at this duck, due to relative gullibility, is less sporting than shooting at other ducks. Shovelers love to sit down with domestic ducks and willingly swim among them. Broad-nosed ducks fly away for wintering earlier than other ducks.

They are also called sviyaga and whistler because of the melodic whistle emitted by the drake mainly during the mating season. The voice of the duck is sharp, reminiscent of the sounds of "rerr-rerr". The wigeon nests mainly in the northern regions of our country and in Siberia. Occurs ubiquitously on migration. About the size of a broadshoe. In breeding plumage, the forehead and upper part of the head are yellowish-white, the rest of the head and neck are reddish-brown, covered with black speckles. The back and shoulders are grey, with dark streaked stripes. The goiter and sides are grayish-wine, the belly is white. White spots are pronounced on the wings. The mirror is green with a metallic sheen. The uppertail is white in the middle and black at the edges. Paws and beak are grey. The beak is much shorter and narrower than that of other ducks. The female is painted in grayish-brown and blackish-brown tones, with dark streaks and light edges of feathers. The belly is white.

Wigeons fly fast, but rarely dive. They feed mainly on plant foods: green shoots, rhizomes, berries. They nest on small lakes and rivers with dense vegetation and open reaches. Nests are usually arranged in the forest near the water. Wigeon ducklings develop and grow faster than most other ducks and after a month and a half they can already fly. From wintering, wigeons arrive earlier than many other ducks, and in autumn they fly away later, sometimes lingering until the end of November. Wigeon meat is highly valued. Killer whale, or touched drake. Somewhat smaller than the shoveler, the weight of the drake reaches 750 grams.

In breeding plumage, the drake is very beautiful and differs significantly from other drakes. Its head and neck are dark brown, sometimes with a metallic sheen. The shoulder blades, shoulders and back are grey, with a dark streaked pattern. The chin and throat are white, on the neck there is a black ring with a greenish-metallic sheen. Uppertail and undertail are velvety black. On the back of the head is a crest of elongated feathers. Part of the flight feathers on the wings is also elongated and bent down sickle-shaped, their color is velvety blue, with a narrow light border on each feather. The lining of the wings is pure white, the beak is black, the paws are gray with dark membranes. Ducks are painted in dark brown, light brown and ocher-red tones with dark spots. The flight feathers are less elongated and do not form braids, as in the drake.

Killer whales nest only in the eastern regions of the country, they are extremely rare west of the Yenisei. They winter in Japan, South China and Vietnam. They nest most often in shallow lakes and oxbow lakes. Nests are built in dense grass or bushes near water bodies. They feed mainly on green shoots. On migration, killer whales often stay together with other ducks. The duck's voice resembles the voice of a mallard, the drake emits a peculiar melodic whistle. Killer whales fly away for wintering early, usually in September. Killer whales are very cautious and distrustful birds, and hunting for them is associated with considerable difficulties.

The genus of river ducks also includes their smallest representatives - teals. In Russia, there are 4 species of teal, which differ significantly from each other. These are teal-whistle (chirenok, small teal), teal-cracker (snor-punk, shirkunok, big teal, gray-winged teal, tea-rock-crake), teal-kloktun (moklok, ganok, ma-darling) and marble, or narrow-nosed, teal.

Teal crackling

The first two types of teal are the most common and are found almost everywhere. Kloktun breeds only in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, and marbled teal - in the southern regions of the country, not rising above the Lower Volga region. The largest teal is the kloktun, reaching a weight of 600 grams, somewhat smaller than its crackling and marbled teal. Their females of the whistler are somewhat darker than the ducks of the kloktun and crackling. The marbled teal duck, like the drake, which is not dressed in marriage attire, is gray in color with light spots; their plumage resembles marble, for which this teal gets its name.

The drake-whistle in the wedding dress is very beautiful. Its head and upper neck are tawny, and its chin and upper throat are black. On the sides of the head are wide bluish-green stripes with a copper-red tint, connecting at the back of the head. Along the edges, these stripes are bordered by a narrow white stripe, which continues from the eyes along the base of the beak to the chin. The belly is light, buffy, the undertail is light gray. The uppertail is brownish-gray, bordered by a black velvety stripe. On the chest and on the goiter he has large tear-shaped black spots. The mirror is bright green, shiny. The beak is black, the paws are gray. In nuptial drake, the upper part of the head is dark brown, with small white strokes on the forehead. The neck and sides of the head are chocolate-colored, with white strokes, the chin is black. A wide white stripe runs from the eyes to the back of the head and further down the neck. The crop and forechest are brown, with a scaly pattern and transverse stripes. The chest and belly are white. The upper, coverts, feathers of the wings are bluish-gray, the mirror is greenish-steel in color, with a white bordering strip. The beak is black, the paws are gray, the lining of the wings is white. The kloktui drake in breeding attire has black feathers on the top of the head, on the chin and throat. There is also a black stripe from the eyes to the throat, then passing to the back of the neck and down into wide spots of bright green in the form of crescents. From above and but to the sides they are bordered by narrow white stripes. The sides of the head, cheeks, feathers near the beak and part of the neck are pale buff. The base of the neck at the back and the shoulders are slate, with striated stripes. The back and rump are gray, also with streaked stripes, the sides are bluish with a black streaked pattern. White transverse stripes are clearly visible at the base of the wings. The craw and upper chest are pinkish-wine, covered with semicircular black spots, the belly is white, the undertail is velvety black, with transverse white stripes at the base. The wing coverts are whitish. Mirror green, shiny, on a black background, with white stripes on the outside. The beak is bluish, the paws are brownish-olive.

Teal immediately after arrival from wintering start nesting. In the spring, hunters often manage to observe the flights of the crackling duck, recklessly pursued by several drakes. Sometimes crackling drakes just as recklessly pursue females of other ducks, including mallards, so they willingly sit down to decoy ducks and to various stuffed animals. The nests of the teal are arranged not far from the reservoir, in the thickets. Ducklings grow quickly and, as a rule, take to the wing by the beginning of the hunting season. The exception is kloktuns, whose ducklings develop more slowly. Often, by the beginning of the hunt, non-flying broods of these teals are found.

Teals feed on both plant and animal food. By autumn, they become very fat, and closer to departure they stray into large flocks. Teal swim and dive well, fly quickly and easily. Especially good flyers are whistles, whose flight speed exceeds the speed of other river ducks. I have witnessed a goshawk chasing a pair of teals. The predator was already catching up with the ducks, but they managed to fly to a wide reach, near which I was, and, falling into the water, instantly dived and disappeared. The accelerating hawk crashed into the water and was shot by me. For the speed of flight, teals are rightly considered a real sporting game. The meat of teals is better in taste than the meat of mallard ducks. The voices of Teal Ducks resemble gentle quacking. The whistling drake whistles melodiously, the crackling crackles, resembling the voice of a current corncrake, the kloktun clucks muffledly, making the sounds “clo-clo-clo”. The narrow-nosed Teal are the most silent, their voices are weaker than those of other teals. These teals are the most gullible and allow the hunter to shoot more easily than others.

Red-nosed dive, or red dive

This is one of the most common diving ducks in our country, nesting mainly in the southeastern regions of the country, in Central Asia and in the Ural coastal zone of the Caspian Sea. It occurs on nesting in the lower reaches of the Kuban, in the North Caucasus and in some regions of Transcaucasia. On migration it can be seen both in Siberia and in the central and western regions of the European part of Russia. It winters in our country in the southeastern regions, as well as in southern Europe, East Asia and North Africa.

The plumage of the red pochard drake is dominated by brown, chestnut, buffy and black tones with white spots. His head is bright red. The female is painted in clay-brown and ash-gray tones, from below it is dirty white. The beak of the male is bright red with a whitish marigold. The paws are also red. The female has a dark beak with a reddish tinge, paws are red-brown with dark membranes. The red-nosed dive is a rather large, densely built bird, reaching a weight of up to one and a half kilograms. Red-nosed pochards arrive in pairs to nesting sites. They migrate in flocks for the winter. They build their nest in lakes on the rubble of old reeds or on islands and bumps near the water. The material for building a nest is the stems and leaves of plants. On the sides of the nest tray is surrounded by a roller of fluff, with which the females cover the eggs. Red-nosed pochards feed mainly on plant foods, so their meat, unlike the meat of most other pochards, has high palatability.

The voice of the duck is very loud and crackling, reminiscent of the sounds of "kerr-kerr-kerr". The drake usually gives a voice - a low whistle - only in the spring. Due to the large weight, attractive appearance and high quality of meat, the red-nosed pochard is highly valued by hunters. The red-headed pochard, locally called the blue duck, sivash and krasnobash, is one of the most interesting diving ducks from the point of view of hunting.

It is widespread in our country. Nesting is observed in the Baltic Republics, in Belarus, in the Leningrad and Pskov regions, in Bashkiria, in Ukraine, in the lower reaches of the Kama, on Siberian rivers, in the lower reaches of the Syrdarya and Amudarya rivers, on the Aral Sea, in the Nizh in the Volga region and in some regions of the Far East. It is also found on Lake Onega, the Red-headed diver in the Northern Dvina basin, in Yakutia and Kamchatka. The red-headed pochard winters both outside our country and in the Black, Caspian and Azov seas, at the mouth of the Kuban, in the southeastern Transcaucasia, on the lakes of Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. The red-headed pochard is a medium-sized duck with a very dense body and a short neck. Its weight, depending on the season and the degree of fatness, ranges from 700 to 1300 grams.

The drake in breeding attire is colored quite differently. Its head and neck are rusty-red, sometimes with a reddish-purple tint. The craw, chest and shoulders are black, the back is ash-gray, with transverse striated stripes. Closer to the tail, the back gradually darkens, the rump and undertail are black. The sides and underparts of the breast are greyish, covered with clear ripples. The belly is dark. The upper, coverts, feathers of the wing are ash-gray. The beak is bluish, the paws are gray. The female has a yellowish-brown head, the body has a reddish-brown and black-brown color in different places. The neck, craw and sides are dark, rusty-red. The belly is off-white. The beak is lead-blue, the paws are gray. The red-headed pochard feeds on both plant and animal food. Swims and dives very well. Its draft is so deep that the tail is half submerged in water. The red-headed dive takes off from the water heavily, noisily, but flies very quickly, making loud and sharp sounds with its wings.

The diver walks poorly on the ground, raising the front part of the body high. His voice is hoarse, croaking. During a complete molt, red-headed pochards lose their ability to fly and, together with other divers, huge pochards nest on large lakes with dense thickets and wide reaches. Nests are arranged in the creases of reeds and in its thickets; sometimes nests are floating, like those of coots. Ducklings spend the first day of life in the nest, and then leave it together with the uterus. By the age of one month they fledge, but they begin to fly closer to two months. Grown up broods of red-headed pochards unite in flocks and lead a nomadic lifestyle. Red-headed pochards, due to their large numbers, wide distribution, rather large size, good quality of meat and fast flight, are an excellent object of hunting.

Along with the red-headed pochards, white-eyed pochards, Bara pochards, crested ducks and sea ducks also belong to the genus of ducks. White-eyed dive. In some places it is called white-eyed and nigella. A medium-sized duck, reaching a weight of 500-600 grams. The drake in breeding plumage has a part of the neck, crop and fore-breast reddish chestnut with a purple tint. There is a black ring at the base of the neck, the back of the neck, shoulders, back and rump are black. There are white spots on the chin, the middle of the chest and undertail are white. The sides are reddish-brown. The belly is blackish-red, mottled with small white specks. Coverts and tail feathers of the wing are blackish-brown. The beak is bluish-black. Paws are grey, eyes are white. The head of the female is also reddish chestnut, but somewhat paler than that of the male, and the ring on the neck is gray-brown. The rest of the plumage of the female is dominated by dark brown, gray-brown, reddish-brown and grayish tones. There are large dark spots on the chest. The beak is dark, the legs are greenish-gray. The voice of the white-eyed diver is rough, croaking. In our country, the white-eyed pochard nests mainly in Turkmenistan, on the eastern shore of the Aral Sea, in the middle reaches of the Syr Darya and in Semirechie, less often along the lower reaches of the Dnieper. Separate nestings were observed in some regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Siberia and in the central regions of the country. It winters outside Russia and only partially - in Eastern Transcaucasia, on the southeastern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the upper reaches of the Amu Darya.

During the spring and autumn migrations, the white-eyed pochard is found almost everywhere. For nesting, white-eyed divers prefer deep lakes overgrown with reeds; they do not avoid the wide floodplains of the southern rivers, they are sometimes found on mountain lakes. Nests are built on floating reed fists, as well as on islets and individual hummocks located among reed thickets. Young divers begin to fly at about two months of age. The diet of the white-eyed pochard has not been studied enough. It is known that mainly its food consists of leaves, roots and seeds of aquatic plants, with a small addition of animal feed. A white-eyed pochard I kept in captivity, caught by a duckling, willingly ate bread, all kinds of greens, grains of rye, oats, wheat, earthworms and meat. By the nature of their behavior, white-eyed divers are in many ways similar to real ducks. The white-eyed duck swims well, dives well, but it is difficult to rise from the water.

Baer Dive

Baer's dive. It is also called the eastern white-eyed pochard. Its color is dominated by black and reddish-brown tones of various shades. On the wings it has large white mirrors, clearly visible both in swimming birds and in flight.

In our country Baer's divers nest only in the southern regions of the Far East, on small lakes overgrown with reeds. The meat of these dives has a noticeable fishy smell.

Crested Duck

Crested black. It is also called black, black, white-flanked, herbalist and sea black. Quite a large and dense duck, weighing from 700 to 1400 grams. The plumage of the drake is dominated by black tones with a metallic sheen. The sides and underside of the body, as well as the lining of the wings, are pure white. White specks are also observed on the covert feathers of the wing. The beak is grayish-blue, with a black marigold. Paws are gray with black membranes, eyes are yellow. On the head, elongated feathers form a tuft hanging from the back of the head. The female is dominated by brown tones of varying brightness. The ventral part of the body is white, speckled with brown feathers.

It occurs on nesting in the Middle Trans-Volga region, in Bashkiria, in Northern Kazakhstan, in the Trans-Urals and in Western Siberia. In spring, the birds arrive already in pairs. They nest in wide floodplains of rivers and lakes, in reed beds and on small islands. Nests are often built floating, and sometimes in tree cavities. From the very first day of their lives, crested black ducklings swim nimbly and skillfully dive. Under water, they can stay up to 40 seconds. Ducks rise heavily and noisily from the water. The voice of a duck resembles a hoarse croak. The drake is more silent. His voice sounds like a melodic "glu-glu". The crested duck feeds mainly on animal food, extracting it under water at a depth of up to 3-4 meters. One interesting feature is observed in the behavior of the crested duck: it is not afraid of the neighborhood of a person and nests near his dwelling. It would be useful to make wider use of this feature of the tufted duck and populate it with large reservoirs located around large cities.

Black sea

Sea black, in some places it is called black, white-flanked and plesovka. Quite a large duck, slightly larger than the crested duck. The head, chest and back of the body are black, the back is light gray, the belly and sides are white. The female is dark brown, has a white ring at the base of the beak, and a white spot on the sides of the head. White feathers are also found on other parts of her body. The Black-tailed Duck nests along the northern border of our country, mainly in the tundra. It is found in small numbers for nesting in Estonia. The voice of the sea black resembles a loud croak. She swims and dives beautifully, flies fast and, unlike other dives, easily rises from the water. The black stag feeds on both animal and vegetable food, extracting it mainly under the floor. The Black Sea Black prefers to nest on flowing tundra lakes with rich vegetation, as well as on lakes in the taiga. During molting, it stays on large lakes with wide open reaches. Winters mainly in the sea, sometimes flying into bays and estuaries. The black sea dhole breaks into pairs during wintering. Nests are usually built by it in sedge thickets near the water or in willow thickets. Ducklings grow quickly and at the age of 35-40 days are already able to fly. Marine Blackti Meat is very high, so the fishing hunt for this duck is widely developed.

Common Gogol

In some places it is called a nest for the love of nesting in tree cavities. The duck is medium in size, its weight ranges from 800 to 1400 grams. A drake in breeding plumage has a black head with a metallic sheen, round white spots on the cheeks. The back, flanks, neck, belly, rump and undertail are pure white, except for a narrow black bar near the rump. The wing is dressed in white, black, brown and gray feathers. The mirror is white. The tail feathers are black-brown, the beak is black, the paws are orange, and the eyes are reddish-yellow. In summer plumage, the drake is colored almost the same as a duck, in which the head and part of the neck are dark brown, the back is dark with light edges of feathers. The goiter and sides are slate-gray. Chest, belly and undertail are white. The mirror is also white. The wings are dominated by white feathers interspersed with black, brown-black, gray and dark slate. The beak is black, paws are yellow with dark membranes. The eyes are yellow. Gogol's voice resembles a hoarse croak. In flight, it makes a clear and high, “crystal” sound with its wings, by which it can be easily distinguished from other ducks even in the dark. The goldeneye feeds mainly on animal food with a slight addition of vegetable food.

Gogol is an excellent swimmer and excellent diver. Food is obtained almost always under water, sometimes at a depth of up to 4 meters. The nesting sites of the goldeneye in our country are the northern regions from the Kola Peninsula and the north of the Arkhangelsk region (including the middle Urals, the Ob and Yenisei rivers) up to Kamchatka. The goldeneye hibernates mainly within our country. Mass winterings of goldeneye can be observed off the coast of the southern Caspian, in smaller numbers on the Black Sea, in Ukraine, in the Southern Urals and in Altai. Gogols arrange their nests in hollows of trees growing along the banks of water bodies, and in addition, they willingly populate artificial nest boxes and nest boxes, which are hung on trees or installed on long poles in hunting farms on the eve of the arrival of birds. Neighborhood with a man does not frighten gogols.

With an insufficient number of hollows in the nesting sites, fights occur between the females of the goldeneye for mastering the nest. Often two ducks rush in one hollow at once. There were also observed cases of joint nest building in the hollow by goldeneye and loot, goldeneye and mallard, as well as goldeneye and greater merganser. In these cases, sometimes up to thirty eggs were in the nest, most of which the incubating duck could not warm up, and the chicks did not hatch from them. Chicks hatch from eggs within 2-3 hours and remain in the nest for the first day, drying under the duck and greasing their downy outfit. A day later, the ducklings, which have sharp and strongly curved claws, freely crawl out of the hollow, even from the deepest, and, at the call of the mother, easily jump down to the ground. Such a fall, sometimes from a height of more than 10 meters, is completely harmless to ducklings due to their small stature and light weight. When all the ducklings jump to the ground, the mother leads them to the sheltered places of the reservoir. Ducklings are excellent swimmers and excellent divers: they can stay under water for up to two minutes. At about two months of age, goldeneyes begin to fly.

Kamenushka

A small duck weighing 500-800 grams. The drake in the wedding dress is colored very differently. Its head and neck are black, matte. On the sides of the head, from the base of the beak and almost to the eyes, there are vertical white spots, which run from above in a narrow strip along the crown to the back of the head. There are two more small white spots on the head behind the eyes and an oblong one on the back of the neck. On the sides of the head, below the white spots, are small rusty-brown stripes. At the base of the neck is a full white necklace, bordered below by a narrow black stripe. The back and rump of the kamenushka are black. The top, sides and chest are blue-slate. The back of the chest is gray, the belly is black-brown, the undertail is blackish, with small white spots on the sides. The sides of the body are chestnut, at the fold of the wing there is a small white transverse spot bordered by black stripes. Shoulder feathers are white. The mirror is shiny, black and blue. The tail is black, the beak is dark olive with a light marigold. Paws are black-brown with black membranes. The eyes are brown. The plumage of the duck is dominated by dark brown colors with an olive tint. There are three white spots on the sides of the head, the lower part of the body is whitish, with small and indistinct brown streaks. Wings and tail are black-brown. The beak and legs are brownish-gray. In the drake, blackish-brown tones predominate in summer plumage after molting.

Kamenushka nests exclusively in the northern regions of Siberia, and its nesting area in the west extends to the basin of the Lena River and Baikal, in the north it reaches the Arctic Circle, in the south - to Primorye, and in the east - to Kamchatka and the Commander Islands. During the nesting period, in summer, kamenushki live mainly in mountain rivers and lakes. They winter on the sea near rocky shores. Moulting birds gather on large bodies of water, including the sea. At the nesting sites, kamenushki arrive already broken into pairs. They fly for the winter and hibernate in large flocks. Duck nests are built close to water, among stones, in grass or in bushes. Ducklings develop quite slowly and take to the wing relatively late. They feed on kamenushki animal food: insects, crustaceans, molluscs and a small amount of fish. Kamenushka is a rather gullible bird and lets a person at close range.

Moryanka

This is an extremely interesting dive, which is sometimes called auleika, sauk and duck. Outwardly, the long-tailed duck differs sharply from other diving ducks; she has a very long tail, especially noticeable in drakes. In addition, birds change their plumage three times a year. A drake in winter plumage has a white top of its head, a wide ring around its eyes, a chin, a throat and a neck. The sides of the head are smoky-gray, closer to the back of the head are large black-brown spots, gradually turning into chestnut. The back and undertail are black, the shoulder feathers are bluish-gray, the sides are gray. The fore-breast is black-brown, the underparts are white, the wing coverts and middle tail feathers are black-brown. The beak is black, with a pinkish or orange band at the top, the legs are bluish-gray, and the eyes are red. In breeding plumage, the drake has more white feathers on its head, and the throat, neck and crop are dark brown. In summer plumage, the head of a drake is much darker than in winter or during the mating season, and all plumage is less contrasting than in winter and spring. The female is rather monotonous dark in summer, with greyish-brown flanks. In winter, her head and neck are mostly white, with black-brown feathers on the top of her head and on the lower cheeks. A narrow rusty-brown stripe runs across the goiter. During the nesting period, the head and neck of ducks are blackish, and the goiter is grayish-brown.

The duck is not a large duck, its weight, depending on the degree of fatness, ranges from 600 to 800 grams, sometimes a little more. For nesting, the long-tailed duck is found in the tundra zone of the European and Savka of the Asian parts of Russia, on the islands of the Novosibirsk archipelago, on the Chukchi Peninsula, sometimes it comes across in Northern Sakhalin, in the northern part of Baikal and in some lakes of the Trans-Urals. Long-tailed duck nests mainly in tundra lakes and mountain lakes. Winters and molts in the seas. On migrations, it keeps in huge flocks, often reaching tens of thousands of pieces. The long-tailed duck feeds mainly on animal food: insect larvae, crustaceans, molluscs and small fish. Ducklings also eat plant foods. The nest is arranged in a dry place, not far from water, usually under the cover of willow, sometimes among sedges. Ducks in the nest sit so firmly that they allow themselves to be taken with their hands. Ducklings develop slowly, in the first days they swim little and stay close to the nest. Often, two broods of ducks are combined into a common group with two starks. In the event of the death of a duck, ducklings usually join someone else's brood.

Long-tailed duck flies fast, swims well and dives well, likes to stray into large flocks. As a game bird in the north, the long-tailed duck undoubtedly ranks first among ducks. Hunters shoot the long-tailed duck mainly on the flight.

This duck is also called blue-nosed or white-eyed duck. It is of medium size, its weight ranges from 500 to 800 grams. Outwardly, it differs sharply from other ducks, especially with its multi-staged tail, vertically raised up, and a large head with a peculiar beak. A drake in breeding attire has a white head, with a black cap on the crown of the head and a black collar. The feathers of the body are grayish-brown, rusty-brown, brown and light buffy, in places mottled with black specks and gray transverse stripes. The tail is almost black, there is no mirror on the wings. The beak is sky blue, the paws are reddish gray with dark membranes and joints, the eyes are bright yellow. The top of the head and cheeks of the duck are dark brown. From the base of the beak under the eyes to the back of the head there is a rather wide light stripe, mottled with brown spots. The upper part of the body is light, yellowish-brown, covered with transverse stripes. The chin and top of the throat are almost white. The sides and neck are whitish, the lower part of the body is a dirty whitish-yellow color, covered with gray spots and transverse stripes. The beak is dark, the legs are gray with a slight bluish tinge, the eyes are light yellow.

Whiteheads nest exclusively in arid steppes and deserts. Basically, the nesting range of this bird in our country runs along the steppes of the Caspian and the Lower Volga region to Volgograd, along the Volga and Ural sands and along the middle reaches of the Urals. Headed whales also nest in the Trans-Volga region, in Bashkiria, on steppe lakes in the Chelyabinsk region, in Kazakhstan, in Siberia, on the lakes of northern and southwestern Tajikistan, right up to the border with Iran and Afghanistan, as well as in mountainous Armenia near Lake Sevan. Nests of cutthroats were also observed in the upper reaches of the Yenisei. Whiteheads overwinter mainly outside our country on large open lakes or in sea bays. In our winter quarters, they were observed off the southeastern coast of the Caspian Sea. For nesting, ducks prefer steppe lakes, especially brackish ones, with reed thickets, underwater vegetation and open reaches. During migration they are found on a variety of water bodies, up to mountain rivers. White-headed whales usually arrive at nesting sites in April, although they start nesting much later - from the end of May and even in June. Nests are built in reed beds, often using old nests of coots, white-eyed pochards.

Often the nests are floating. The eggs of the duck are very large, off-white; in their laying, as a rule, no more than six pieces. It is extremely difficult to find an incubating duck on the nest. There was an assumption that for the hatching of ducklings, duckweed eggs need to be incubated only for the first few days, and later the embryos develop independently. An experiment carried out near Astrakhan on incubated duck eggs taken from the nest confirmed this assumption. The eggs taken from the nest were laid in the room, and without any additional warming, after a week, ducklings hatched from them. The nutrition of the whitehead consists mainly of plant foods: leaves and seeds of aquatic plants, as well as crustaceans and mollusks. On the ground, ducks move with great difficulty and usually spend all their time on the water, swim and dive perfectly.

Among the diving ducks, four representatives of the genus Turpan stand apart. These are large sea ducks, the plumage of which is dominated by black, brown and gray tones with white feathers in certain parts of the body and head. The largest of these ducks is the black scoter, which is locally called the swirl, scoter, tulip, black duck, black duck and smut. The weight of a drake often exceeds 1700 grams.

Slightly smaller than it (weight 1500 grams) is a hook-nosed scoter, also called a seine, which differs from other members of the genus in that it has a strongly developed growth (hump) at the base of the beak. Singa, which because of the black color of the drake is sometimes called black and Pacific blueberry, as well as black duck and whistler, reaches a weight of 1600 grams. Within our country, the black scoter nests on the coast of Estonia, in the forest zone of the Murmansk region, in North Karelia, in the northern part of Lake Ladoga, near Arkhangelsk, on the Kanin Peninsula, on the Yenisei, in southern Taimyr, in the Trans-Urals, in Western Siberia, near Tyumen , on large lakes near Tobolsk, in northern Kazakhstan.

Ducklings grow and develop rather slowly. Black Turpans spend winter in the seas, including the Baltic and Caspian, as well as in the inland waters of Central Asia. The hawk-nosed scoter breeds in the Yenisei basin and further east, including Kamchatka. It is most numerous for nesting in the forest lake part of Yakutia. It winters off the coast of the Far Eastern seas, especially often observed off the coast of southern and southeastern Kamchatka. Singa on nesting is found in the northern regions of the country, it is especially numerous in the east from Murmansk and Karelia to the watershed of Khatanga and Lena.

It also winters in the sea, most often in the Baltic Sea. The breeding range of the Pacific blueberry is limited to forest and tundra lakes in the northeastern regions of the Asian part of the country. During the nesting period, it is most numerous in Kamchatka. Spends the winter, like other turpans, on the seas, in the Pacific Ocean. All Turpans are great swimmers and divers. They feed mainly on animal food, including fish. In some places, commercial hunting is widely developed for scoter scoter, especially for singa.

Hunters shoot Turpans mainly on the migration, during which these birds appear in many parts of the country. More than once I have met black scoter and blue scoter during the autumn migration on the Rybinsk Sea.

Ducks belonging to the genus of mergansers differ sharply from all other ducks in the structure of their beak. Their beak is narrow, strongly elongated in length, ending in a hook-shaped nail bent down, equipped with sharp horny teeth along the edges. Reminds me of a cormorant's beak.

The objects of duck hunting in our country are three types of mergansers: a large merganser, called in places a cormorant-duck, a red-bellied, bison and a large sharpness; long-nosed, or medium, merganser, also called merganser and lesser merganser, and onion, which is sometimes called sharpness. The size and color of the plumage of all mergansers differ significantly from each other. The big merganser is a large duck, up to 2 kilograms, the weight of the long-nosed merganser does not exceed 1300 grams, and the smallest - Lutok weighs from 500 to 800 grams. The drake of the lutka in the breeding plumage is almost completely white, while the duck is mainly covered with reddish-brown, dark gray and brown feathers. In the merganser drake, the breeding feather is dominated by black, in some places with a green metallic sheen, white and reddish-orange tones; ducks are reddish-brown, gray in different shades and whitish.

Long-nosed merganser

A drake in breeding plumage has a black head with a metallic sheen, black shoulders and upper back, a white neck with a black stripe on the back, dark gray lower back, sides and uppertail, a reddish long-nosed, or medium, merganser goiter. In the female, plumage is predominant. reddish-chestnut, brownish-gray, gray and white tones. In the drake and duck of the long-nosed merganser, the feathers on the head form a pronounced crest, the white crest adorns the head of the slut drake, and in the large merganser only the female has a wide crest on the head, while in the drake the feathers on the head are only slightly elongated.

big merganser

This type of duck is widely distributed in our country; it is especially numerous on the Kola Peninsula, in the Urals, in the Cis-Urals, in the Altai, in the Sayans, on Baikal and in other, mainly northern and eastern, regions. Found everywhere on migration. The large merganser nests on lakes and rivers with clear water. Its main food is fish. Nests are built near water in hollows of trees, in old abandoned buildings, in stone ruins, rarely on the ground in bushes. Greater mergansers winter mainly outside Russia. In our country, winterings are observed on the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, on the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, in Kamchatka, on the Kuril Islands and off the coast of Primorye. The long-nosed merganser in our country is less common than the big one. It nests in the northern regions - from Murmansk and Karelia to Kamchatka. Some of its nesting colonies are found on the Black Sea and in Armenia (on Lake Sevan). On winterings it occurs off the coast of the Crimea and the Caucasus, in Kamchatka, on the Commander and Kuril Islands. Lutok nests quite widely in the forest zone of both the European and Asian parts of Russia. Separate nesting places of the lutka are found in the lower reaches of the Dnieper. It winters in the Black and Azov Seas, on the rivers of Ukraine and Central Asia. All three species of mergansers feed on Animal food, mainly fish. Their meat therefore has an unpleasant odor. Hunters shoot these birds in flight and while hunting other waterfowl.

We will finish the description of wild ducks with a story about three species that stand somewhat apart from both river and diving ducks. Although little is hunted for these ducks, they are very interesting birds in their appearance and lifestyle, and it is useful for every amateur hunter to know them.

Ogar

It is also called a red duck, varnava or varnavka, scoter (incorrectly), otayka or atayka. Ogar is a fairly large duck with high legs located closer to the front of the body than in river and diving ducks. Thanks to this, the red duck moves on the ground much more freely than other ducks. The weight of the burnt ranges from 1200 to 1600 grams.

The drake is painted in brown-red tones. He has a full black ring (collar) on his neck, which disappears after the summer molt. On the back of the back, the drake has small transversely striate stripes. Undertail, tail and primary flight feathers are black. The upper, covert, wing feathers are white. Beak and paws are blackish, eyes are black-brown. The duck differs from the drake in the absence of a black collar and in the lighter tones of the color of the entire plumage.

In Russia, ogari are quite widespread. Their nesting range includes Central Kazakhstan, Semirechie, Tuva Autonomous Region, Transbaikalia, southern Turkmenistan, Armenia, the steppe strip from the Terek to the Volga and some regions of Siberia. Ogari are less common for nesting in the Kuban delta, between the Don and the Volga, in the middle reaches of the Urals, in the Ishim steppe and in some other areas. The shelduck nests on lakes and rivers, preferring hilly places and avoiding overgrown water bodies. Likes salt lakes and mountain waters. Winters mainly in Africa and South Asia. In our country, the wintering of the red duck is found in the southeastern Transcaucasia, in the lowlands of Artek and in other regions of Turkmenistan, as well as in small numbers in the territory of southern Tajikistan.

In autumn, before leaving for the winter, the ruddy shelduck often gathers in large flocks on salt lakes. It usually arrives at nesting sites in pairs. Ogari nests are arranged in the burrows of various steppe animals (foxes, badgers, wild cats), in old burial grounds, in abandoned buildings, and sometimes even in sheds and attics of residential buildings. In the lower reaches of the Volga, red ducks dig rather long holes in clay cliffs. Sometimes there are also open nests. In Siberia, nests of Ogars were found in hollows of trees at a height of up to 10 meters from the ground. In the literature, there is a description of nests of shelducks located in the backs of residential fox burrows. It is believed that such a strange neighborhood ended happily for the red duck only because of its loud hiss during incubation, which resembles the hiss of a large snake.

Ogary eggs are quite large, ivory. It is believed that the drake also takes part in their incubation. Ducklings develop quickly, perfectly run, swim and dive. Having sharp claws, they quite easily climb to a height of up to a meter, from where they freely jump. Both parents are involved in caring for the offspring. They very jealously protect the ducklings and stay with them until the young rise to the wing. When danger arises, the duck leads the brood into the thickets, and the drake boldly flies on the enemy, sometimes very dangerous. There have been cases of attacks by male ruddy shelducks even on white-tailed eagles. Red ducks feed on both animal and plant foods. Red ducks, when not pursued, are quite gullible birds. Caught young, they quickly get used to a person, tolerate captivity perfectly and become completely tame. Previously, in Bulgaria, the Ogar was bred as a poultry. It would be useful to domesticate the red duck in our country, especially since, due to its exceptional endurance, it can be used for hybridization with domestic ducks.

shelduck

Locally also called tuber duck and merganser. This is a large goose-like duck, reaching a weight of up to one and a half or more kilograms. The drake in breeding plumage is painted very elegantly. Its head and neck are black, with a metallic sheen, the base of the neck and goiter are white. A wide stripe of deep chestnut color runs through the chest and sides and joins at the back. Shoulder feathers are black, and all other parts of the body are white. A wide black stripe also runs from the middle of the chest along the stomach; undertail light chestnut. The flight feathers of the wing are black, the areolet is dark green. The beak is bright red, has a wide leathery outgrowth on top, at the base. The beak nail is dark, the legs are pink, the eyes are red-brown. In summer, the molted drake has a brownish head and neck. The chestnut stripe on the chest is interspersed with white feathers with brown edges. The black stripe on the lower part of the body almost completely disappears. The duck is colored similarly to the drake, but all its tones are lighter and not so bright, and the stripe on the lower part of the body is not black, but dark brown with white streaks. The growth at the base of the beak is absent.

In our country, the shelduck occupies a fairly extensive nesting range. For nesting, it is found in the coastal strip of Moldova and Ukraine, in the steppe part of the Crimea, in the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, in the steppe Ciscaucasia, in the Caspian steppes and along the western coast of the Caspian Sea up to the steppes of southeastern Transcaucasia. It also nests in Armenia, in the Volga region, in the Volga and Ural steppes, along the Ural River, in the Kustanai region and other regions of Kazakhstan. The shelduck spends wintering mainly outside of Russia. In our country, it can be found in Turkmenistan on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Sheldocks nest mainly in brackish lakes, and they prefer places near which there are sandy mounds or stone placers. In some places in the Baltics, shelducks nest near sea bays. They arrive at the nesting sites already in pairs. Just like shelducks, shelducks make their nests in the burrows of various animals, in old burial grounds and in abandoned buildings. Less commonly, shelducks make open nests among reeds and bushes. It is difficult to determine the number of eggs in a clutch, since several ducks often lay eggs in one nest. Pegan eggs are large, creamy white, sometimes with a slight olive tint. Leaving the nest, the shelduck covers the eggs with fluff, abundantly covering the nest tray. The last two days before hatching, the duck does not leave the nest. During incubation, drakes are near the nest and protect it from various predators. Ducklings hatched from eggs run well and leave the nest on their own. Then the parents lead them to the reservoir, sometimes overcoming quite a considerable distance. During such a journey, the duck is in front of the brood, and the drake either closes the procession or walks to the side, guarding its offspring. If several broods of shelducks gather in one reservoir, fights occur between males, as a result of which the defeated ones are expelled from the reservoir, and ducklings with a queen join the winner's brood. Ducklings grow quite quickly and by the age of two months they completely complete their development. The drake usually leaves the brood before the duck. Sheldocks, like other ducks, molt twice a year, but their full summer molt often immediately passes into the second, prenuptial.

Sheldocks feed mainly on animal feed, mainly crustaceans and insect larvae. From plant foods, they willingly eat various algae. Sheldocks walk well on the ground, swim freely and quickly, but only ducklings dive. The flight of shelducks resembles the flight of geese; on spans they usually line up in a wedge. The voice of the shelduck is a dull and soft chuckle. During mating games, the drake whistles.

tangerine

This little duck, whose weight ranges from 500 to 600 grams, is also called the Japanese and the hollow. A drake in a wedding dress is dressed very beautifully. It has a green crop and crown with bright purple stripes. The back of the head and the large crest above are copper-red. The rest of the crest is shiny, blue-green. The anterior part of the head is fawn-red. Cheeks, chin and neck are bright red. A gradually narrowing white stripe runs from the eye to the back of the head. The top of the body is dark olive in color, in places with greenish and brown hues. The anterior part of the neck below and part of the goiter are shiny, copper-red. On the sides of the chest are three black and three white arcuate stripes. The sides of the body are gray-green, mottled with black and grayish-white transverse striated stripes.

The underside of the body is white. The wing coverts are olive-brown. The primaries are of the same color, but they have a silvery rim along the outer edge, and shiny green tops on the inner webs. The mirror is green and shiny. The beak is bright red, paws are yellow, eyes are dark brown. In the female, the top of the head is gray-slate, and the sides of the head and neck are light gray. At the base of the beak is a white spot. A white ring runs around the eye and a narrow white strip goes to the back of the head. The upper part of the body is olive-brown, the craw, front part and sides of the body are brown, covered with whitish-olive spots. The lower part of the body is white, the wings are olive-brown, the areolet is shiny, green, with a white stripe. The beak is brownish, with an orange claw. Paws dirty yellow. On the head is a large crest, somewhat inferior in size to the crest of a drake.

In our country, the mandarin duck nests along the middle and lower reaches of the Amur, in the Ussuri Territory, in the summer it is found on Sakhalin. The main breeding range of the mandarin duck is in Japan and on the island of Taiwan. The mandarin winters in Japan and in southern China. For nesting, she chooses forest rivers with islets and channels, forest lakes with banks overgrown with willows. In the taiga zone, birds prefer to nest in floodplains of large rivers. They arrive in pairs to nest.

Mandarin nests are usually arranged in hollows of trees growing along the banks of a reservoir, sometimes at high altitude, and sometimes near the ground itself. During the nesting season, they often sit on tree branches and examine the trunks in search of a suitable hollow. The incubating duck sits on the nest so tightly that it does not leave it even in case of immediate danger. Ducklings hatched from eggs jump out of the hollow to the ground on their own and, together with the uterus, go to the reservoir, in which they swim quickly and dive perfectly. Broods feed in the mornings and evenings, swimming out to open reaches for this. During molting, drakes gather in large flocks and stay in willow thickets. Tangerines feed on both animal and plant foods. Willingly eat various seeds, acorns, rice grains, young shoots of cereals. From animal food, insects are preferred, including beetles, snails, and small fish.

In August and September, tangerines, uniting in small flocks, make regular flights to fields sown with rice, buckwheat and other crops. The flight of mandarins is fast and very maneuverable. From the ground and from the water, they rise freely, almost vertically. In China and Japan, this species has been domesticated and bred as an ornamental bird.

In Russia, ducks have become widespread. They can be found in fresh and brackish waters. A large percentage of hunting falls on ducks.

There are a lot of species of these birds, both in households and in the wild.

In the article we will talk about each type in detail.

Ducks have the following data:

• Wide body, streamlined.
• There are membranes on the paws (for ease of swimming).
• The beak is flattened.
• The neck is elongated.
• Feather cover is dense, repels water. Therefore, the birds do not get wet.
• There is enough fat under the skin.

Ducks in the wild

There are a large number of wild ducks in Russia. But not everyone is allowed to hunt. Many are listed in the Red Book.

Mallard

Mallard duck photo

Most often in Russia you can find mallard duck. Its population is large. It is divided into 12 subspecies. The appearance of the common mallard is a reference.

Characteristic:

• Streamlined torso, 40-60 centimeters.
• Flat beak. There are small teeth along the edges. This is a kind of filter when eating food.
• The wings are short and massive.
• The paws are small.
• The average weight is 1 kilogram, males are slightly larger.
• The duck has a calm color, brown with red. Drakes are brighter.
• On the neck, a palette shimmers from purple to blue.

You can meet mallards in Russia in a variety of places. They love fresh water bodies with bent bushes and reeds. Ducks quickly adapt to the countryside, get used to people. Therefore, they are often found on rivers and ponds.

gray duck

Photo of a gray duck

The gray duck can be found in places with stagnant water or a weak current.

Characteristic:

• Dimensions are small, weight is about 1 kilogram.
• Color palette with a predominance of gray on the body. There are patches on the head. Neck with yellowness. Females are more modest in color. Mostly brown or black with stripes and patches. The drake has a gray beak, the female has a yellow beak.

dive

In the photo, a red-nosed dive

Divers find their food at the bottom of water bodies. In Russia, you can find several types:

• Red-nosed.
• Crested.
• Redheads.
• Gogol.

They meet on the seashore. In winter, they fly to warmer zones. Divers swim and dive remarkably, they can dive under water for up to 3 minutes. They are quite large in size, with short legs. Baer's dive, Red-nosed and White-eyed dives are listed in the Red Book of Russia.

blacken

In the photo blacken crested

Blackening refers to a diving species. They have a short neck and a large head. Surprisingly beautiful plumage, in the neck area there is a black girdle that resembles a collar. The tail is slightly drooping. The average weight is 600-900 grams. They are more common in the ode than on land. In Russia, five varieties can be found.

In the tundra zone of Russia there are marine blacks. Birds hibernate on the seashore, swimming no further than 10 meters from land. Males have a brighter color palette. From the first day of birth, chicks can dive into the water. But because of the small weight only for a moment. An adult is able to dive up to 15 meters. Bird nests are most often located in thickets near the reservoir. Duck is an excellent bird for hunting, any hunter will consider it a trophy.

Crested black has a beautiful appearance. When flying, its wings emit a unique whistle.

Teal

Photo duck Teal

The teal is a very small species of duck. Their weight is about 200-400 grams. Meet in the taiga. Representatives have narrow wings and a short neck.

They live near fresh water. The flight of the teal is almost silent. The plumage is beautiful, shimmers in the sun. During the molting period, the color is calmer.

The male does not change in color. Teals have a black beak. The hunt looks to be industrial.

The teal-klokhtun is listed in the Red Book.

Merganser

Photo duck Krohal

Merganser is one of the largest representatives of ducks. Its weight can reach up to 2 kilograms, for the winter. The color palette of birds is diverse, depending on the season.

In spring, birds have bright and rich plumage. Males have a bright green tint on their heads, wings and back are black, chest is white.

Females are lighter in color and have an orange-tinted head.

In females, the beak is light orange, in males - red. In summer, it is difficult to distinguish a male from a female. Birds feed on small fish, so the meat has a specific smell. Hunting for them is carried out due to their beautiful appearance.

The scaly merganser is listed in the Red Book.

Gogol

Photo duck Gogol

Ducks of this species do not differ in large mass, females - from 500 grams to 1.2 kilograms, males - from 800 grams to 1.3 kilograms.

The neck of the birds is short, the head is massive, similar to a triangle. The beak is short.

Males have bright plumage, a black shade with tints on the head.

Gogol can be recognized by sound. During the mating season, males make peculiar sounds similar to the squeak of a hare.

wigeon

Photo duck Sviyaz

Quite a large bird. The mass of the male is up to 1 kilogram, the female is 600-900 grams.

Like other species, male wigeons are distinguished by the brightness of their plumage, especially in summer.

Their head is chestnut with black spots.

There is an ornament on the back, a chest with a red tint, a gray tail.

Females are more uniform, slightly reddish, with black patches.

shelduck

Photo duck shelduck

The shelduck is hard to confuse with other wild ducks. It has a unique coloration. The plumage is dominated by white, the head is black, the chest is red, and there are black stripes on the belly. Paws are pink.

There are few differences between the male and the female, the former have an outgrowth on the upper beak, and mirrors on the wings are green.

The average weight of the female is 1.3 kilograms, the male is 1.5 kilograms.

Thanks to its beautiful plumage, it is a subject of hunting.

Pintail

Photo duck Pintail

It got its name from the awl-shaped tail feathers. Bird hunting is hard work.

She takes off without a run from the water and rapidly picks up speed. Therefore, hunting for it becomes more difficult.

The plumage of individuals is mainly chestnut and gray, black and whitish blotches are inherent.

The tail is long, the neck is elongated, the wings are pointed.

The average weight of a duck is 400-900 grams, a drake is 600-1300 grams.

Ogar

Photo duck Ogar

The weight of the duck is impressive - about 1.6 kilograms. Paws are high.

It looks like a goose. They can fly, swim, dive, and even run wonderfully.

The plumage color cannot but attract; at the beginning of the warm season, chocolate-colored ducks turn red over time under the rays of the sun.

Varieties of mandarin and duck are listed in the Red Book.

They go hunting for wild ducks, and domestic ducks are kept in the farmstead. They are grown for different purposes. Among domestic ducks, the following areas can be distinguished:

• Meat.
• Meat-egg.
• Egg.
• Decorative.

On private farmsteads, you can most often find meat ducks or decorative ones.

Popular breeds of domestic ducks

One of the most popular meat ducks is Peking duck. Characteristic:

• The head is big.
• Paws are massive, short.
• The body is elongated.
• Color palette from light yellow to cream.
• Gaining weight quickly.
• Unpretentious, quickly adapt to cold conditions.

Muscovy ducks (Indo-ducks), characteristic:

• Large sizes, the weight of the female is 3.5-4 kilograms, the male is 6 kilograms.
• There is a massive growth on the head.
• The color palette of musky ducks is white with black.
• The character is kind and friendly, not conflict.
• Egg production - 100-120 eggs per year, the weight of one is 75-80 grams.
• Does not require reservoirs. They feel better sitting on branches than in water.

The name comes from the musky smell that is inherent in meat and feathers.

Most farmers prefer muscovy ducks, as they do not create noise in the yard. They can only hiss, which is why they are called "mute".

Another advantage of musky ducks is that eggs can be stored longer than any other.

Also, Muscovy ducks are very good hens and caring mothers. Up to the point that while hatching their eggs, they can be distracted by other ducklings and go for a walk.

Muscovy duck meat is distinguished by its high palatability, tenderness and non-greasy content.

Ducks of the Khaki Campbell breed have the characteristic:

• The body is elongated.
• The chest is massive.
• The neck is not very long.
• Active and friendly.
• Unpretentious in food and maintenance.
• Meat and eggs are delicious.
• The plumage is shiny, hence the name.

Indian runners can be attributed to the egg direction. Characteristic:

• Active birds.
• The neck is long, as are the legs, which contributes to rapid movement.
• The weight of a duck is 2 kilograms, the weight of a drake is 1.7-1.9 kilograms.
• Delicious meat, high egg production, up to 230 eggs per year.

Some poultry farmers may raise Indian runners as ornamental birds.

Moscow white ducks are in demand as well as musky ones. Characteristic:

• Early maturity, after 2 months the ducklings are fully formed and ready for slaughter.
• The birds are meaty.
• The color palette is white.
• Massive paws.
• The sizes are large, the weight of a duck is 3-3.5 kilograms, a drake is 40 kilograms.
• Egg production - 110-120 eggs per year. Stable egg-laying for about 3 years.

Black white-breasted are raised for dietary meat. Characteristic:

• Full maturation in a month and a half.
• Egg production - 120 eggs per year.
• The color palette is black, with white accents on the chest. Decorate any backyard.
• Unpretentious in content.
• Calm.

Mulards are gaining great distribution. They are distinguished by good productivity, unpretentious maintenance, adapt to different weather conditions. One drawback - do not give offspring. In many countries, mulard meat is valued, it is tasty and low-fat. Another advantage is the liver for foie gras. Many farms grow these ducks specifically for liver production.

duck care

Most types of ducks take root remarkably in the backyard. They are not whimsical in keeping and feeding. Free access to ponds and lawns will save the poultry breeder from a lot of trouble. True, such ducks as musky ones do not need a pond, they calmly graze on the grass.

Important criteria for keeping at home:

• Balanced and vitamin nutrition.
• Warm and dry house.
• Absence of dampness and drafts.

When choosing a bird for keeping at home, to facilitate care, consider the region of residence.

No matter how tasty the domestic duck is, hunters with experience are not averse to hunting game. In the wild, there is a large selection of various ducks, not only tasty, but also overly beautiful.

Sometimes the choice of a bird breed for home breeding becomes a problem, because there are about 84 of them in the world. We advise you to first clearly define the goals of keeping birds. If the main goal is to get meat, then it is worth choosing from breeds of meat direction. If you want to get eggs from a bird, then you need to look at egg breeds. You can kill two birds with one stone and simultaneously solve two problems - to have eggs and meat - by purchasing meat and egg ducks. We have selected for you breeds that deserve the attention of poultry farmers in each of the areas. Also in the article you will find a description of the types of wild and indoutok.

Types of domestic ducks

The most popular among poultry farmers are meat and meat-and-egg ducks. It is believed that the maintenance of egg is a disadvantageous business. Yes, and not everyone likes to eat duck eggs, they are, so to speak, an amateur.

Meat

The best breeds in this category today are birds of breeds:

• Gray Ukrainian.

These breeds differ from each other in external features, anatomical structure, plumage color and productivity level.

He has a strong build with a protruding chest. The body is located on strong, widely spaced paws.
A flattened head with a wide concave beak is placed on a short neck. The wings are close to the body. The plumage is painted in two colors: black and white and khaki.

The mass of adult drakes is 4 kg. Pure meat in them 70%. The meat is tender, there is no specific aftertaste in it. Productivity in terms of eggs is 238 pieces in 280 days. The weight of each is approximately 90 g.

Puberty of ducks occurs at 4 months of age. At the same age, birds reach their peak weight. Feed consumption per 1 individual - 2.73 units.

Breed advantages:

• high hatchability of young animals - about 80%;
• good immune system;
• the ability to easily adapt to living in any conditions;
• unpretentiousness to feed and special care;
• fast weight gain;
• low feed costs;
• a small amount of fat.

Disadvantages:

• mandatory availability of clean drinking water;
• frequent feeding due to increased appetite;
• reduced egg production in individuals with khaki plumage.

Did you know? Despite its short size, a duck's neck contains approximately the same number of vertebrae as a giraffe's neck. They are just very small.

A bird with a powerful elongated body. She has a large head, a thick arched neck, a convex beak, a wide chest, and thick orange-colored limbs. The wings are strong, tightly adjacent to the body. The tail is raised. White plumage.

Drakes reach a mass of 3.6-4.2 kg, ducks - 3.4-3.9 kg. The beginning of egg production falls on 5-5.5 months. Its maximum level is 140 eggs per year. The mass of each is 85-90 g.
Advantages:

• a long period of high egg production;
• good adaptation to cold conditions;
• unpretentiousness in care;
• lack of need for a nearby reservoir.

Disadvantages:

• easily excitable nervous system and restless disposition;
• lack of incubation instinct;
• frequent illnesses under improper conditions of detention and a damp house.

They are hybrids, bred from several breeds: musk drakes and Bashkir, Peking, Rouen ducks, White Allier, Orgpington. The birds are well built. Their body is elongated, the head is medium in size, the neck is long, and the legs are short.

Drakes gain weight from 4 to 7 kg, ducks - 0.5 kg lighter. Already at 3 months the bird reaches an impressive size - about 4 kg. The weight of the liver in drakes is 0.5-0.55 kg. Egg production begins at 180-210 days. Mulards consume about 340 g of feed per day.

Advantages:

• tasty and high-quality meat with a minimum amount of fat at the level of 3%;
• cleanliness;
• calm disposition;
• early start of egg production;
• unpretentiousness in care;
• high productivity;
• the value of the liver for cooks as a product for making foie gras.

Disadvantages:

• inability to give offspring;
• moisture resistance.

Did you know? There are no nerve endings on the paws of ducks, so it can easily walk on a hot or icy surface without feeling discomfort.

A bird with a dense physique, convex chest, widely spaced limbs. Beak and paws with a bluish tint. The plumage is ashen, blue, blue.

Drakes reach a weight of 5 kg, ducks - 4 kg. With quality feeding, drakes can eat up to 8 kg, females - up to 6 kg. The meat is tasty, without a characteristic smell and taste. There is little fat in it. Egg production is 100-150 eggs per year weighing 80-85 g.
Advantages:

• successful acclimatization in various regions;
• unpretentiousness in content;
• precocity - by five months they reach the weight of a mature bird;
• tasty, high-quality meat with a low fat content;
• decorative plumage.

The disadvantage is that ducks of this species are bad hens.

Gray Ukrainian

These are birds with a slightly raised body, a wide belly, medium-length wings adjacent to the body, an elongated head, a strong beak and a thick neck. The plumage is painted gray with a white stripe on the neck.

Drakes gain weight up to 3.5 kg, females - up to 3 kg. The meat of these birds is tasty, lean. One individual brings from 120 to 140 eggs per year. And under excellent conditions, ducks incubate over 200 eggs.
Advantages:

• endurance;
• unpretentiousness;
• good immunity;
• high quality meat;
• combined orientation of productivity;
• good adaptation to winter temperatures.

Of the shortcomings, instability to drafts is noted.

Meat-egg, or egg-meat

The best meat and egg breeds are:

• Saxon;
• Mirror;
• Orpington.

A small bird with an elongated body and a deep chest.
The head is small in size, located on a thin, short neck. Wings are short and underdeveloped. The neck and back are brown, all other parts of the body are khaki.

Drakes weigh 3 kg each, females - 2.5 kg each. Meat yield is about 90%. Egg production - 350 pieces per year. The mass of one egg is 80 g.

Advantages:

• high rates of egg production;
• well developed incubation instinct;
• excellent taste of meat;
• low percentage of fat;
• calm disposition, non-conflict;
• the ability to adapt to living in any conditions.

Disadvantages:

• poorly developed wings and virtually no ability to fly;
• poorly developed incubation instinct.

Large-sized birds with an elongated wide body, a small oblong head, a high forehead and a wide powerful beak. The body is covered with black plumage with a green metallic sheen. The limbs and beak are painted in dark colors. The wings are long, well adjacent to the body.

Drakes gain weight of 4 kg, ducks - 3.5 kg. Slaughter for meat is carried out at the age of two months. In a year, one female is able to bring from 100 to 150 eggs weighing 80-100 g. The shell of the eggs is black.

Advantages:

• good brooding instinct;
• high adaptation to any weather conditions and climate;
• excellent egg production;
• high quality meat;
• calm, quiet disposition;
• decorative plumage;
• picky in feed and care.

Among the disadvantages: for maximum productivity, birds need daily walking, even in winter.

Did you know? When flying to warm countries, ducks can rise to a height of 9 km and dive under water to search for food to a depth of 6 m.

Saxon duck

Birds have a medium-sized compact body, which is slightly directed upwards. The plumage of drakes and females varies in color. In males, it is generally orange with red, the head, neck, wings are blue with a metallic sheen. They have a white horizontal stripe on their neck. The females are brown with yellow tones.

Productivity of Saxon ducks: maximum weight of drakes - 3 kg, females - 2.5, average annual egg production - 200 pieces weighing 75-80 g each.
Advantages:

• good productivity;
• good survival rate of young animals;
• quality meat;
• decorative plumage;
• peaceful character;
• endurance.

The breed was bred by crossing meat Peking ducks and meat-and-egg Khaki Campbell. These are birds with a strong physique, long and wide body. Their head is small, located on the average length of the neck. The body is covered with light brown plumage. The beak is dark gray, the limbs are orange.

Males have a blue-green head and neck. On average, mirror ducks reach a mass of 2.8 to 3.8 kg. One individual incubates about 150 eggs per year.
Advantages:

• precocity;
• good endurance;
• good productivity;
• excellent safety of ducklings - up to 95%;
• high quality meat;
• good egg production;
• beautiful appearance.

Important! For the high productivity of most breeds of domestic ducks, they need to provide 4 important conditions: a warm house in which sanitary and hygienic standards are observed, a reservoir, a balanced diet, fresh, clean water.

Orpington

Bred by crossing several breeds: Eylsbury, Cayuga, Indian Runner.
Representatives of the breed have a strong and wide body, broad chest, elongated neck, small head. Their color is fawn or yellow with red.

The average weight of one female is 2.7-3.3 kg, male - 2.8-3.6 kg. The level of egg production is high - 140-160 pieces.

Advantages:

• high meat qualities;
• high level of egg production;
• precocity.

Disadvantages - inaccuracy when eating food.

egg-laying

To get as many eggs as possible, the Indian Runner breed is most often bred. This is a bird with an elongated body, with a vertical orientation, a rounded chest. She has a medium-sized head, an elongated neck, strong limbs that allow her to quickly and confidently run and swim.
The plumage is of different colors. The most common is light shades of brown. The productivity of Indian runners is 350 eggs weighing 80 g. Mature individuals weigh about 2 kg.

Advantages:

• calm temperament;
• high egg production;
• strong immune system;
• good adaptability to environmental conditions, including cold weather;
• precocity.

Disadvantages - excessive shyness.

Types of wild ducks

About 120 species of ducks live in the wild. Among them there are those that are distinguished by an interesting and unusual color of plumage, body structure, beak, and sounds made.
Wild ducks, as a rule, have wide and short wings, with which it is good to dive, as well as limbs with three webbed front fingers. They are small in size. Sexual dimorphism is usually clearly expressed in plumage color - males are painted in more attractive beautiful colors before molting.

Wild ducks can also be kept at home. However, they will need to prepare a special diet for them - the one that they eat in the wild: for example, river greens, algae, etc.

river views

River species differ from others in that when diving for food, they do not completely submerge in water, but only slightly dip into it. They live most often in shallow water with abundant vegetation.

crohali

Mergansers are distinguished by a long, cylindrical beak with sharp teeth at the ends and a long body and neck.

There are three types of mergansers:

• big;
• middle;
• scaly.

Representatives of the first predominantly live in forests. They have small body sizes - up to 70 cm in length and 1.5 kg in weight. There are various shades in the body color - there are black, white, brown, orange colors. On a small head is a forelock.
The middle merganser also lives in the forest zone. In drakes, the body length is 60 cm, in females - 55. The mass of mature ducks is 1 kg. The crest is on the back of their head.

The scaly merganser is quite rare. In appearance, it is similar to the average merganser. However, it has smaller dimensions - 40 cm in length and 0.5 kg in weight. On the head of females there is a large crest.

diving

As the name implies, these birds get their food by diving under water. This species is most common in the Northern Hemisphere. Most of these ducks are found in North America. There are several types of diving birds. The most common among them are dives, blacks, marble teals.

Important! Hunters love to hunt wild ducks. However, it is important to comply with the legislation that regulates hunting, not to violate the permitted deadlines, and not to engage in poaching. It is also the duty of every hunter to carry out activities to create favorable conditions for the life and reproduction of birds.

Indian ducks or Muscovy ducks

Quite often today on the farm you can meet not only ordinary ducks, but also indo-ducks. These are large massive birds with dark plumage and white patches. They were bred in Mexico and South America, and later became popular in other countries. Their other name is musky, which they allegedly received because of the musky smell of fat.

The length of domestic males of indoutok reaches 90 cm, weight - 4-6 kg. The body of females is shorter - 65 cm, their weight is 2-3 kg. Indo-worts have a large elongated head with characteristic fleshy growths of red color.
These birds do not differ in precocity. Their egg production is average - from 70 to 120 eggs per year. They have a good incubation instinct, due to which they are used to incubate not only duck eggs, but also other bird species.

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