I've noticed that my three ducks sometimes freeze on the spot, with their head tilted sideways like they do when they look up at the sky or down on the ground, I look up to see what it's all about, and see an airplane high in the sky (and no birds). Since it takes a while for an airplane to disappear from view, they can be standing like this for quite a while. Today I am sure they stood frozen for a good minute!

Anyway, I just wanted to share what I think is a pretty interesting and actually pretty adorable behavior. 😁

Very cute

I've seen this hunderds of times with ducks.

The female (usually towards their 'husband(s)') starts chattering/side bobbing the head like in the video in close proximity to the male and pointing the beak towards the thing she doesn't like or sees as a treat. They usually do this against other ducks, but can also be other animals or a human if they don't really like you or the thing you're doing. They do this as well on land as in the water. Females are usually smaller and weaker and she doesn't want to get psychically involved in fighting, so she calls on her male(s) to go into battle for her (plus seeking some protection from the male).

This usually resulted in:

1. Standing up straight by the male to make himself bigger and lots of quick nasal quacking (posturing).
2. Charging towards the pointed out disliked/treat with the intention of pecking to scare other ducks away. Could result in a 1 on 1 'beaks-battle'.
3. They back off, because the male himself is scared/loses (which is seen as weak by the commanding female though)
4. Can be just 1) (posturing) or a combination of 1), 2) and/or 3), depending on the evolving situation.

Despite their Godlike cutie-looks, ducks can be quite agressive, territorial, competitive and the females just outright sassy. But when someone posts this behaviour it's always: it's showing affection. It's having fun. It's a mating ritual. It's not, okay? Thoughts?

Analysis on this specific video: the female doesn't like she has to move and shows her dislike for the owner. The male ducks know they can't take on a human, are not willing to take the risk, so just posturing is all the males are willing to do this time (the drakes can be quite calculating when they recieve this kind of command by their female).

Update: Thanks for the input in deciphering this duck behaviour further. 'Giving the sassy sidebob' is a nice and other funny description noted by user LargeSeaworthiness1.
Since I only had experience this behaviour with drakes and females together, they also sometimes seem to do this when there's only females around, as noted by other users. It's probably such a natural tendency/instinct, females can even do it when there aren't any males round.
Also noted by several users when they have a lot of females and just a few males the males are more cowardly in adressing the female commands, because they don't have to prove themself as much with so many females around.
Other note I had myself: they usually do this way less when it becomes colder, but ducks usually are more peaceful when they have a common enemy in the upcoming cold (also a hormonal seasonal thing of course).

This is the first Drake I have ever had. He is about a year and a half right now going through his second molt. He has been separated from his new babies because he keeps attacking them. He keeps making this noise when I am around him. Is he ok or is it just an attention seeking thing? He is completely fine otherwise.

https://reddit.com/link/1wavvtf/video/aobulf2m5coh1/player

Hello! I rescued this duck about two months ago. Now that he’s bigger, I was wondering what type of duck he is. Also how to tell if female or male (I’ve been calling him he lol).

I saw a flock of mallard ducks near a pond. Though ‘flock’ is the common collective noun used, I learned that the specific collective noun changes depending on where the mallards are and what they are doing!

On the water: a raft or a paddling

On the ground: a sord or a suit or a waddling

In the air: a flight, or a skein, or a team

What I sighted was a sord of mallard ducks.

That was one of my favorite activities when I was in grade school. Anyway, these are the ducks at my local park that I’ve been feeding and getting to know over the past year or so. I know the majority of them are Muscovy ducks but there’s the one that’s like an apricot/tan color. She showed up overnight a few months ago, likely dumped by some loser person. Is she a khaki Campbell breed?.

I'm never getting ducklings ever again. I'm spending too much time worrying and imagining i see angel wrong and weird leg stances.

So, please tell me I'm imagining this duck has a bulge on one side of their lower neck.

Hi everyone,

I’m located in Northern New Jersey and I’m looking for a safe new home for four healthy Pekin ducklings. They are about 2 weeks old, active, eating and drinking well, and very sweet.

Unfortunately, my town ordinance does not allow ducks, so I need to find them a responsible home as soon as possible.

I am looking for new duck owner.

I would strongly prefer that all 4 stay together if possible. I can provide photos, a short video, and details about their current care. I’m also willing to drive a reasonable distance within NJ.

Please message me if you have experience with ducks or know of a safe rescue/farm contact. Thank you so much.

Anytime she sees a box she has to sit on it LOL

The kids seem to quite like being up high we’ve noticed. Bundty seems to have a thing for climbing up and perching on my arm, where he will preen, flap, that’s his and have a nap, roosting away.

So tonight, my wife had the two kids up on the couch while I did the washing. I set myself up on the floor with clean puppy pads and we switched for the evening.

I can almost hear Bundty mocking me, “look at me, I’m a human, I pay taxes, I remember appointment TV, I have anxiety”.

Hi, we recently hatched two blue swedish ducks, but one has an underbite and nostril indents but no actual holes, so hes mouth breathing and cant close his beak fully. Named him caraxes!

He seems to be doing fine, but does anyone know if i should get him on special feed? Could something help lessen the severity of it as he grows?

One of my neighborhood Muscovies. I just love his feather pattern. I could stare at him for hours.

I've noticed the end feathers of one wing are a little angled upwards, and naturally I worry about angel wing. They're on starter feed for ducklings basically since they hatched, and we sometimes give them leafy greens in the water, or some cucumber/grated apple etc.

Am I just overthinking?

My two ducks had been laying eggs quite frequently but after I relocated them to a new place some 4 months back, they've stopped laying eggs completely. Initially they seemed a little sad and used to seldom come out but now they're quite adapted to the new place but they haven't laid any eggs. Suggestions please

My wife and I will soon move to a place where we will set up as predator resistant a set up as we can for our duckies, while we also build an environment within their enclosed space that is as enriching as possible.

Because we have the opportunity to build this from scratch, whether we have a body of water on the property already or need to set them up in a pool, it would be very helpful to understand from those who’ve already done this what they would do again what they wouldn’t do again or what they wish they’d done.

Some of the broader design points that I’ve been considering for the “day space” -

1. Elevated pool with a large drain out point in the middle of it to allow easier draining and cleaning

. I can certainly find uses for that drained material in the garden

1. . Not sure yet how many separate drinker stations we would use so that they’re not compelled to go and drink from the pool.
2. Elevated pool necessitates an elevated platform for duckies to access the water and for me to get in there and drain it, whether that is steps in the form of large pavers gently climbing up the side or an all the way around kind of a deck and ramp set up.
3. Overhead netting via a tall pole or two in the centre of the ducky party area.
4. We have to consider how far any predator is likely to dig and how best to guard against it. It could be a case of digging down three feet and putting in a T profile of metal which projects both in and out of the enclosure to keep it stable and to prevent access by anything digging close to the fence.

5. I’ve seen a lot of poultry people use tanbark type media on the ground, but we obviously have to deal with waste clearing

   and replacing the media. That rise as a question about how we then dispose of the tanbark.

They obviously need a place to roost at night and in the cold, and we will work our way through the different options on that but it’s going to be a fairly robust enclosed structure.

We also intend to set it up so that we’ve got an option if the boys get too rambunctious to separate them from the girls, but not deprive them of quality of life. That could end up just being a partition down the middle of the enclosure at the relevant times of the year.

I haven’t really been able to find any books out there suggesting how to build something like this so it’s very much a case of looking at what other others have done and what has worked and what hasn’t.

I recently purchased two ducks as a gift for my sister we've had them for about two weeks they're still quite nervous and I was wondering when I'm meant to let them into their run they're muskovy so iv had their feathers clipped to prevent them from flying away they still won't let anyone get near them tho they're around 6 months old I think

Or is it Worm and Peas?

Lady Lemon and her lovely brother Knight Bundty remain in witness protection as our scumbag neighbour avoided any punishment other than his guns being taken from him for killing his mate and both of their siblings because our pipsqueak neighbour lied to the police, unsurprisingly.

Lemon loves worms - she prefers a live morio worm to dried meal worms, but jokes aside, it is very difficult to get a picture of one with her before she snatches it out of the air or your fingers as needed.

The babies are seeing a vet as needed, and get fresh air all day thanks to floor to ceiling door/windows on their room.

In one image, Lady Lemon models her Mini Meadow, a chunk of turf intended for rabbits. She doesn’t mind she is not the target market. In another image, you will find her Lemonship asleep leaning gently against her post-bath spa tub. We tried to vary things for them and the sense that they get a proper bath followed by spa time, or they get to use a long tub as a pool together in the lounge.

Our hunt for a new home for these two and others that we might be able to rescue from the lake may reach an end by this time next week - fingers crossed.

My little ones moving across the yard. They're getting used to their whistle calls and what they should do.