Ducks

Anatinae

Bill of moderate length, stout, straight, depressed toward the end, obtuse, covered with soft skin; upper mandible transversely convex, with the margins internally lamellate, the tip furnished with a decurved horny broad unguis; lower mandible with the angle long and narrow, the crura slender, flattened, the edges internally lamellate, the tip a flattened unguis. Nostrils elliptical, open, sub-basal. Head of moderate size; neck long or of moderate length, slender; body full; legs generally short, stout, with little of the tibia bare; tarsus scutellate; toes four, first small; anterior three palmate. Claws moderate, arched, compressed, obtuse. Plumage very full, dense, soft. Wings of moderate length, curved, acute, outer two quills longest. Tail short, of twelve or more feathers. Tongue fleshy, with a median groove, lateral reversed papillae, laminae, or bristles, and a semicircular thin horny tip; oesophagus narrow, slightly enlarged at the lower part of the neck; stomach a transversely elliptical gizzard, of which the lateral muscles are excessively developed, the epithelium dense, with two concave finding surfaces; intestine long and wide; coeca long, cylindrical, contracted at the base. Trachea various generally much enlarged at the bifurcation, without inferior laryngeal muscles, or only with the slips of the lateral muscles prolonged. Nest generally on the ground; eggs numerous. Young clothed with stiffish down, and able to walk and swim from birth.

Genus I : Duck

Mallard Duck
Plate 221
Dusky Duck
Plate 302
Gadwall Duck
Plate 348
American Widgeon
Plate 345
Summer, or Wood Duck
Plate 206
Green winged Teal
Plate 228
Blue-Winged Teal
Plate 313
Shoveller Duck
Plate 327

Genus II : Flamingo

American Flamingo
Plate 431

Genus III : Goose

Canada Goose
Plate 201
Hutchins's Barnacle Goose
Plate 277
Brant Goose
Plate 391
White-fronted Goose
Plate 286
Snow Goose
Plate 381

Genus IV : Seaduck

Canvas backed Duck
Plate 301
Red-headed Duck
Plate 322
Ruddy Duck
Plate 343
Pied Duck
Plate 332
Velvet Duck
Plate 247
Black, or Surf Duck
Plate 317
American Scoter Duck
Plate 408
King Duck
Plate 276
Eider Duck
Plate 246
Golden-eye Duck
Plate 403
Western Duck
Plate 429
Buffel-headed Duck
Plate 325
Harlequin Duck
Plate 297
Long-tailed Duck
Plate 312

Genus V : Swan

Trumpeter Swan
Plate 406
Common American Swan
Plate 411

About This Guide

High-resolution images courtesy of the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove, Audubon, PA, and the Montgomery County, PA, Audubon Collection. Learn more about the John James Audubon Center