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Re: diving dabblers



There is one nice duck - Long-tailed Duck known here as Oldsquaw (why old?) -
which part of its courtship display is group diving. Usually there are groups of
a few males (5-10) chasing one or two females, simultaneously diving, chasing on
a water and in the air. In Vistula River Mouth  N Poland (some 2 miles of the
river, ca 350 y. wide), I saw once a concentration of ca 40,000 Long-tailed
Ducks  that were displaying, that was a NOISE, oh dear! You could hear these
ducks from a half a mile or so!

Mike

"Baron, Scott M." wrote:

> > I saw Mallards do this along the Potomac River in Virginia/DC a few days
> > ago.  I thought my ID of Mallard was mistaken when I first saw them dive.
> > I walked closer to get a better look and yes, they were Mallards.  I don't
> > remember if they were rising out of the water or not, like the poster's
> > teals were.  I don't think they were.
> >
> > Maybe this diving is some sort of mating behavior?  I'm pretty sure I saw
> > both males and females dive.  And I too, don't remember seeing this before
> > in a dabbling duck.
> >
> > Scott M. Baron
>         Fairfax, Va.

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Michal Skakuj  Ph.D.
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