How do ducklings change as they grow?
Everyone looks for the cutest fluffy ducklings and chicks through Spring and Summer – so why do the bird identification guides give us such scant information about these adorables?
Perhaps they assume that baby birds can always be identified by their nearby parents, but that isn't always as easy as it sounds either, especially as they start to moult out their breeding plumage.
Let’s have a ganders at a selection of the tiniest ducklings on view at Marshside and what they will grow into.
Mallard
We’re all familiar with Mallards from our local parks and ponds. They’re by far the commonest and are what everyone pictures when they think “duck”.
Note the iridescent blue speculum on mum’s wing.
Gadwall
These are the tiniest, all following mummy’s tail in a big, new world.
The females and ducklings are very like mallards, but note the neat orange wedges on the sides of their beaks, and greyer sides to their heads. They are also noticeably smaller than a Mallard.
Shoveler
Another Mallard lookalike, these are best identified from the size and shape of their beaks though, like the Gadwall, they frequently have some orange on their beaks. But it's a beak they will eventually grow into, isn't it?
Tufted Duck
Real characters… tiny bundles of dark down with a beak and plenty of attitude, very different from the other ducklings here. Often rather large families (I’ve photographed eighteen with one mum!) they're notoriously difficult to count as they constantly dive and reappear elsewhere. Now compare these four well-grown and recently independent ducklings using their growing self-confidence to do a teenage cruise. Don't let them confuse you with Scaup! Note the shape and developing tufts on their heads.
Shelduck
With their distinctive humbug-striped down, these are easy to identify as ducklings, but the lanky grey-brown and white teenager with its pale pinkish beak is a rather more confusing prospect.
There are well-grown ducklings regularly delighting visitors to Sandgrounders at the moment. You’ll find them wherever the water is.
One thing’s for certain, these little cuties can seriously brighten up your day with their comic ducking and diving antics, so get out there soon, before they grow up!
Martin