Florida Mottled Duck (Anas fulvigula)
What a
happy looking duck! Yet this duck was loudly warning people and other ducks in
the area, that it was going into the water at Viera Wetlands. Sarah Kappel took
this photograph with her Canon 7D and a 400 mm lens so that she could be a
distance from the birds and not disturb them. Birds at the Wetlands have become
acclimated to the frequent human traffic. They have learned that the
people traveling the dikes there pose no immediate threat, so the resident
birds save their energy and continue feeding, but keep a watchful eye should
someone approach too closely. Should that invisible barrier be crossed, these
birds will flee just like any other wild bird.
Quite an unusual photograph, placed well to show habitat but also to see in
such clear focus the duck’s tongue and to reveal that birds don’t have any
teeth. Their food consists of vegetation, small invertebrates and fish. This
Mottled Duck (named for having feathers outlined in lighter buff tones) could
be a male or a female, both sexes appear alike, unlike the Mallard duck. The
black spot at the gape (corner) of the bill distinguishes the Mottled Duck from
the similar Black Duck or Female Mallard.
Mottled ducks live year round in our fresh and saltwater marshes and are one of
only a few resident wild duck species in Florida. Only this, the Wood Ducks and
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks breed in peninsular Florida. Feral pet Mallard
Ducks and stocked private duck hunting preserves have resulted in released
ducks hybridizing with the closely related Mottled Ducks. This is such a
concern,that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has enacted
a law prohibiting the release or feeding of any Mallard Duck.
Juanita Baker,
Coordinator for the PIAS Photo of the Month