Waterfowl are birds that are able to confidently stay on the surface of the water for a long time. As a rule, they lead an aquatic lifestyle, that is, they rarely get out on land. The basis of food in this case is fish and small aquatic inhabitants crustaceans, plankton, insects.
The main feature of all waterfowl is the presence of webbing between the fingers. Thanks to them, the bird is able to move in the water, and developing a decent speed. Also, the membranes serve to enable quick maneuvering on the water surface.
Gogol
white goose
Ogar
bean goose
Canadian goose
common eider
red-throated loon
black-throated loon
Black-billed (polar) loon
Grebe (great grebe)
Black-necked grebe
Lesser grebe
Cormorant
Curly Pelican
pink pelican
Voznesensky frigate
Penguin
sun egret
Arama (herding crane)
Other waterfowl
Sterkh (white crane)
African Pawfoot
Coot (water chicken)
sea gull
Oystercatcher
sicklebeak
phalarope
White-eyed pochard
Mallard
White Swan
Greyhead Grebe
northern gannet
emperor penguin
Thick-billed penguin
common moorhen
White seagull
Tern
Grey goose
Beloshey
Sukhonos
Magellan
Palamedea horned
Abbott
Common darter
Frigate Ariel
Plover
Snipe
auklet
Fawn
Dead end
Toporka
Gagarka
Guillemot
pink seagull
Conclusion
Waterfowl include a large number of bird species. Perhaps the most famous of them are ducks, swans and geese, since among them there are subspecies for home keeping. Most of the birds that can swim on water are inaccessible to the gaze of a simple city dweller. To see them, you need to visit water bodies, and often remote and hard-to-reach.
In addition to the general diet and webbed feet, all waterfowl are equipped with a coccygeal gland. She develops a special secret that lubricates feathers. This is a kind of fat that makes the feather cover waterproof and increases thermal insulation. The developed subcutaneous fat layer also contributes to the preservation of heat. That is why birds can swim even in very cold water, often mixed with ice.
Despite the common food base, waterfowl species do not interfere with each other and do not have interspecific competition. Separation is carried out due to different ways of obtaining food, as well as different depths from which it is extracted. For example, seagulls grab fish right in the process of flight, and diving ducks dive into the depths after it.
