Most of our ducks in the Pacific Northwest are heading north and inland now, ready to start nesting in spring, like most birds. Every day my local bays get emptier 😔 Spring is great in many ways, but I’m a big fan of winter for the thousands of ducks livening up the season. I know soon enough there will be ducklings galore, but not where I can see them. However there’s a remarkable aspect of breeding behavior true for ducks that we in their winter range are able to see. Unlike songbirds, they start their courtship displays and choose their mates in winter, much earlier than the spring flurry that is just starting amongst passerines.
Like most aquatic birds, ducks rely far more on visual communication than do passerines, who attract their mates by singing distinctive audio patterns. When you’re in trees and thickets it’s hard to see others of your kind, so auditory messaging is more effective. Water birds are out in the open, and do their messaging by dancing — visible all around.
Moreover, it benefits ducks to establish their mating pairs before they migrate. Once at their winter ponds, rivers and wetlands up north, there isn’t much scope of area for large numbers of birds to get all that sorted out, as migrating songbirds can do in three dimensions. It’s far more effective to arrive at breeding grounds ready to stake out territories and start nesting.
Stanford University Bird Group has essays on various behaviors, and notes a likely evolutionary basis for the remarkably lively visual courtship displays of ducks, which look very much like dances:
The great complexity of duck courtship displays probably has evolved because ducks tend to concentrate in small areas to breed, and closely related species often give their displays in plain view of each other (and of human observers, which makes them a joy to study). This has created considerable evolutionary pressure for each species to develop distinctive displays, so that hybridization among different species displaying together will be minimized. Thus, for example, the displays of Barrow's Goldeneyes are very different from those of Common Goldeneyes until the precopulatory stage is reached. In spite of this, some hybrids between Barrow's and Common Goldeneyes occur, but with nowhere near the frequency of hybrids between Mallards and Black Ducks, which have very similar displays.
web.stanford.edu/…
Water birds in general have some pretty wild dance moves, ducks being no exception. I get to appreciate them in full view in my local bays during the winter months. After they start arriving in October, ducks spend most of their time feeding, resting and grooming, but they find time to squeeze in dancing too.
Cornell explains the reason for the ritualized displays:
In waterfowl mating, it’s the female’s choice. Groups of males perform for the female, and she picks her favorite drake with the best plumage and the best display. These are ritualized behaviors— members of the same species perform the same display that is hard-wired into their genetic makeup. Courtship displays range from elaborate postures to subtle gestures that you may notice only if you are watching for them. www.allaboutbirds.org/…
Hooded mergansers are short range migrators, so they get started early in fall. This little flock below was actually snoozing quietly until a few buffleheads came over and stirred them up. Once awakened, the hoodies got into action. Note the difference between male and female behaviors. Hooded merganser dance moves include, according to Birds of North America, Crest-raising, Head-shaking, Head-throws with Turn-the-back-of-the-head, Head-pumping, Upward-stretch, Upward-stretch with Wing-flap, and ritualized Drinking.
How many of those can you identify in this brief video?
.
Some stills:
Another benefit for ducks in establishing pre-nesting pair bonds, besides avoiding cross-species hybridization when birds are concentrated in limited nesting habitat, is that a drake can protect his mate from rape. In nature there are more males than females among ducks due to the high cost of nesting and rearing young, so there will be quite a few drakes who won’t find mates any given year. Ducks are among the few birds with penises, and there are many reports of forced copulation among them (although the most extreme examples are apparently in urban parks where overcrowding and unnatural conditions exacerbate the behavior).
The scuffling I see sometimes among buffleheads in winter appears to be both displaying their attributes and males protecting a hen mate. They shift gears in an instant from quietly paddling or feeding into flamboyant moves.
Evening —
Daytime —
I watched a small group of 4 drakes and one hen one afternoon and on looking at the videos I recorded it was clear that one particular drake was chasing away any of the others when they got too close to the hen and then performing the bufflehead ritual courtship behaviors, ie Head-bobbing, Leading Display, Fly-over and Landing, Head-shake-forwards, Wing-lifting (from Birds of North America).
.
.
The duck dance moves I see latest in the season before all the ducks migrate is among Red-breasted mergansers. Their unique Salute-Curtsy accompanied by a soft kazoo call is just a delight to witness. Additional moves are the Courtship-Intent posture, the Head-shake, Turn-the-Back-of-the-Head, Knicks, Upward-Stretch, Wing-Flap, Running-Across-the-Water, and Bathing (Birds of North America).
Video of an unpaired drake approaching a hen and immature merganser:
.
.
During the time I’ve been watching them over the past month, some drake mergansers placidly paddle around with a hen in the same bay as others were displaying energetically. Often there were unattached hens around (as well as immature mergansers). For whatever reason, the hens were not interested in the moves by these soliciting drakes.
.
This video by Cornell shows dance moves of Mallards, Eiders, Goldeneyes (and multiple RB mergansers):
Duck dancing days are becoming fewer this month as ducks take to the skies, heading north to nest. I will miss their lively presence, but know there will be ducklings soon enough up on their breeding grounds. And next fall it will start all over again down here in their winter home.
Dawn Chorus is now open for your birdy reports of the week.