One in every of my favourite Far Aspect cartoons refers back to the fowl household talked about within the title of this put up, although solely obliquely. I’ve to confess that it took me just a few months earlier than I lastly received the joke.
Hokkaido will not be a nasty place to see ducks- although for many of us, there is no such thing as a must journey to Hokkaido to see Mallards.
In a prolonged put up on geese in Japan, Mark Brazil (the fowl information creator) praises wild Mallards for being colourful, gregarious, and able to thriving in suburban and concrete environments alongside individuals …
… which makes them engaging at duck ponds however creates points as a consequence of their capability to interbreed with associated species.
For instance, one paper experiences on a hybrid between a Mallard and a Falcated Duck in Sapporo, Hokkaido.
A Russian paper claims that there are indicators of average genetic isolation between sedentary Mallards dwelling in Russian cities and migratory ones dwelling within the surrounding countryside.
Equally, not many birders will come to Hokkaido to see Frequent Coot.
Like male people, coots solely have a small vocal repertoire of simply 4 calls. The analogy doesn’t finish there – like male people, this “small vocal repertoire through the breeding season expresses advanced behavioral motivations and particular person signature”.
As with many duck species, grownup Eurasian Wigeons usually tend to be male than feminine (supply).
That is doubtless as a consequence of larger predation charges for feminine birds through the breeding season – amongst all wigeons assessed within the research, 54.5% had been male.
The scientific identify Mareca penelope refers to Penelope, a Greek princess, the spouse of Ulysses. In the course of the lengthy absence of her husband on the siege of Troy, she began weaving a tapestry and promised her suitors to select one when completed … however unraveled the day’s work each night time. Sounds a bit unfair, however in case you had seen her suitors, you’d have completed the identical.
Penelope can also be the primary identify of considered one of my favourite artists, Penelope Houston. You’ll be able to take heed to “Placing me within the Floor” or watch a full live performance right here.
Seeing the scientific identify of the Frequent Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula, I considered the horse Alexander The Nice rode on his campaigns, which was named Bucephalus. It appears Bucephala means bull-headed, which gave each the duck and the horse its identify.
After all, in immediately’s world, it will have been stunning if that identify (Bucephalus) weren’t for use by some tech firm. Certainly, Bucephalus (www.bucephalus.tech) “combines unparalleled intelligence, agility, and ease of use to align your strategic planning with development of long-term free money circulation”. Their web site additionally presents to “Find out about our journey to turning into leaders in AI-powered provide and demand planning”. It appears to be an formidable firm, utilizing the slogan “We clear up the world’s most advanced issues”, a branding that sooner or later was additionally steered for 10,000 Birds however which didn’t fairly make it by means of our last choice phases as we didn’t wish to get tasked with discovering an answer to the scenario within the Center East.
In keeping with the BTO, the Purple-breasted Merganser might be informed by its punk-style hairdo.
The HBW wonders about this crest: “Its spectacular asymmetrical nuchal crest seems incongruous with symmetry elsewhere in nature”.
Sports activities fishers – notably these not into punk music – apparently fear that Purple-breasted Mergansers compete with considered one of their favourite targets, the walleye, for prey in locations equivalent to Lake Erie (supply). Nonetheless, the research discovered that whereas the diets of walleye and mergansers overlapped significantly, mergansers typically consumed smaller fish than walleye.
Purple-breasted Mergansers want to nest contained in the colonies of terns and gulls regardless of the sensation of not fairly belonging there (having lived in China for 20 years now, I do know the sensation). The reason being that these colonies provide some safety from predation, resulting in larger nesting success (supply).
Even inside these colonies, the mergansers attempt to conceal their nests, for instance by finding them in dense stands of Marram Grass (supply).
Like beer distributors at punk rock live shows, Snowy Egrets apparently profit from looking fish in affiliation with Purple-breasted Mergansers – they catch extra prey (supply).
Sadly, the paper on this analysis solely gives some potential causes (elevated catch charge, bigger dimension of prey) for the advantages to the egrets, fairly than a confirmed rationale. And so, fairly predictably, the paper concludes with a name for extra analysis.
The Northern Pintail doesn’t appear to be a punk in any respect. Not for nothing, eBird calls it a chic, slender duck.
Apparently, there’s a North American Waterfowl Administration Plan that units out an goal of 5.5 million Northern Pintails – however as a consequence of inhabitants declines, the present determine is just about 1.8 million (supply).
A 2002 thesis gives a proof – totally different from different geese, Northern Pintails prefer to nest in crop stubble habitat, which has grow to be extra considerable with the elimination of fall tillage. And these nests are notably weak to predation.
In recent times, a small cottage trade of papers on the financial worth of birdwatching appears to have developed. For the Northern Pintail, such a paper means that “Summed expenditures and shopper surplus for Northern Pintail viewing had been yearly valued at $70M, and annual sport looking totaled $31M (2014 USD). Expenditures for viewing ($42M) had been greater than twice as excessive than these for looking ($18M). Estimates of shopper surplus, outlined as the quantity customers are keen to pay above their present expenditures, had been $15M better for viewing ($28M) than for looking”.
In different phrases, barely simplified: having Northern Pintails round is like printing cash.
You would possibly assume that the invasion of zebra mussels into the Nice Lakes, the habitat of the Better Scaup, is sweet information for them because it will increase their meals provide.
Sadly, the zebra mussels accumulate extra contaminants than the choice prey – and this accumulation is handed on to the Better Scaup (supply).
The scientific identify Aythya marila presumably refers back to the again of the male (marila means coal mud).
The Black Scoter is listed as Close to Threatened regardless of its scientific identify Melanitta Americana, which ought to give MAGA fanatics a robust incentive to guard the fowl.
Weirdly, the HBW additionally solely exhibits the North American distribution of the species, solely admitting within the small print that the species additionally breeds in northern Europe and Asia. Or perhaps I mistakenly appeared this up within the Handbook of the Birds of America.
eBird paints a surprisingly unflattering image of the (in my eyes fairly engaging) Black Scoter, calling it a “plump diving duck” and remarking on its potbellied form in flight.
The Lengthy-tailed Duck is listed as Susceptible.
Actually, there exists the considerably grandiose-sounding “Worldwide Single Species Motion Plan for the Conservation of the Lengthy-tailed Duck” paid for (amongst others) by the Federal Ministry for the Setting, Nature Conservation, Constructing and Nuclear Security of Germany.
Many Russian breeding habitats of the Lengthy-tailed Duck had been misplaced after they had been reworked into oil and gasoline extraction websites because of the ensuing disturbance and oil air pollution (supply).
It’s an arctic species is a real breeding in tundra and taiga areas across the globe – which can also be indicated in its scientific identify Clangula hyemalis (hyemalis means “of winter”).
In keeping with the Nationwide Wildlife Federation, the splashy colours of the male Harlequin Duck “–seemingly assembled by a committee of first graders–are among the many showiest within the waterfowl world.”
Harlequin Duck society is matriarchal – on the coast, younger grownup females choose a male and return salmonlike with him to its natal streams to breed (supply).
Its scientific identify Histrionicus histrionicus means “like a harlequin” or “histrionic”, which the Cambridge Dictionary defines as “very emotional and energetic, however not honest or with out actual which means”.
Understanding the inhabitants growth of Harlequin Geese requires duck surveys – nevertheless, these usually are not a lot enjoyable, in keeping with a biologist: “The place you might be moist from head to toe all day, day by day and the temp is floating above freezing through the spring. And it’s simply, you’re ready to crawl right into a moist sleeping bag or get again to a cabin and perhaps you may get a hearth going to warmth your self up, all within the hope that you simply discover two geese in 5 days.”
Whereas the species is listed as Least Concern, it faces a number of threats together with overhunting, disturbance, and habitat loss. The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 additionally killed lots of them, and the unfavourable results of this spill had been long-lasting (supply).
Do you have to marry younger or fairly wait, assuming not marrying in any respect will not be an choice? For Harlequin Geese, the equal query is whether or not to pair early within the breeding season or later. A research discovered no apparent advantages in early pairing for feminine geese however a unfavourable influence on male geese, as they spend extra time guarding their mate.
Whereas they’re excellent swimmers even in very tough waters (HBW: ” Their skill to swim and feed among the many boulders of a raging river is unmatched”), Harlequin Geese apparently have extra damaged bones than some other waterfowl species. Possibly they generally overdo the tough swimming a bit.
Autor Kai Pflug
