The long-necked, long-tailed elegant Northern Pintail is usually the first northbound duck to arrive here. Soon afterwards Northern Shovelers arrive. These large-beaked birds feed by filtering the water through their beaks to extract nutrients. Both ducks are dabblers, feeding in shallow water on small lakes or ponds.
(Move mouse over images above and below to enlarge &/or see captions).
(Move mouse over images above and below to enlarge &/or see captions).
Cinnamon Teal males are a rich rusty colour, while females are grey. Their beaks look large for the size of the bird. The pair on the left above are pair-bonding by characteristic head-bobbing gestures, something many ducks do. The duck below is a Ruddy Duck, a small diving duck. It has a comical appearance with a black and white head, bright blue beak, rusty red body and a tail often held jauntily upright. This is a male; females are greyer.
Ruddy Duck male
Western Grebes (below) are not ducks, but are diving birds which superficially resemble small loons. Their food is small aquatic organisms and they nest on floating platforms on marshy ponds, small lakes or sheltered bays of larger lakes. The Western Grebe colony at Salmon Arm is one of the best places not too far from Kelowna to witness their amazing courtship 'dance' whereby pairs rush across the surface of the water side by side, followed by weed-dancing and dipping behaviours.
(See next page, BY THE WATER 2 for photos of ducks, geese and grebes with their young!)
(See next page, BY THE WATER 2 for photos of ducks, geese and grebes with their young!)
