Official Duck Appreciation Thread #1

[bloodyjack]

This morning, let us put our differences aside to honor that most eminent feisty fowl, the duck.

Ducks are divided between several different subfamilies of the Anatidae. They are mostly aquatic birds, mostly smaller than their relatives the swans and geese, and may be found in both fresh and salt water.

Ducks exploit a variety of food sources such as grasses, grains and water plants, fish, insects, and the like. The sound made by ducks is called a "quack"; a common urban legend is that quacks do not produce an echo.

The males (drakes) of northern species often have showy plumage, but this is moulted in summer to give a more female-like appearance, the "eclipse" plumage. In many species, adult males are temporarily flightless; these birds seek out protected habitat with good food supplies during this period. This moult typically precedes migration.

Some species of duck, mainly those breeding in the temperate and arctic northern hemisphere, are migratory, but others are not. Some, particularly in Australia where rainfall is patchy and erratic, are nomadic, seeking out the temporary lakes and pools that form after localised heavy rain.

In many areas, wild ducks of various species are hunted for food or sport, by shooting, or formerly by decoys. From this came the expression "sitting duck" to mean "an easy target".

Eiderdown is the down feathers of the eider duck. It is collected from their nests in breeding areas where the ducks use it to line their nests.

Ducks have many domestic uses, being farmed for their meat, eggs, and feathers and down feathers. Most domestic ducks were bred from the wild mallard Anas phatyrrhyncha, but many breeds of them have become much bigger than wild ducks, with a "hull length" (from base of neck to base of tail) of 12 inches or more and routinely able to swallow an adult British Common Frog Rana temporaria whole.

Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated birds with similar forms, such as loons or divers, grebes, gallinules, and coots.

Here are pictures of famous ducks

[Feathered Fish]

1. You're a quack

No seriously, I love ducks. Those are some adorable pics.

[bloodyjack]

4. The duck,

the common name for a number of types of bird in the family Anatidae, is almost unmatched in every arena, be it the field of battle, or the halls of academia. Its only potential peer, the human being, is also its fiercest and most persistent natural enemy, and such has been the way of things for countless millenia. Indeed, since time immemorial, man has dreamed of vanquishing the proud, illustrious race of duck--of humiliating and exploiting the duck's numerous talents. Ducks invented algebra, the very idea of historical documentation, the concept of zero, monogamy, torture, and they can also see through time. There have been reports of ducks visiting from the future to warn humans of impending catastrophes. Many argue that ducks are incapable of responsibly governing themselves—that they have not proven themselves to be ready for democracy—and by simply mentioning this I lend these people's misguided notions of duck inferiority credence. Still, it raises a far more interesting question: what makes one duck more qualified to rule over another?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. Quack, quack!!

Quack. Quack quack quack-quack-quack. Quack, quack quack quack. QUACK!!!!

[bloodyjack]

3. I can't quack your code

[Kellanved]

5. yeah

yummy

[bloodyjack]

6. May a plague of ducks blight your family for a thousand generations!

[trof]

7. The Peabody Hotel (Memphis) ducks:

The Peabody Ducks have become a national icon, not only as a symbol of quality in the hotel industry, but also as symbols for conservation and preservation through the annual art contest for the Federal Duck Stamp at the Department of the Interior in Washington, DC.

The March of The Peabody Ducks, which is performed at 11am and 5pm each day, 365 days a year, has been taking place for over 76 years in the Lobby of The Peabody Memphis.

Just before 11am each morning, a 50-foot red carpet is laid out, stretching from the hotel elevators to the marble fountain in the lobby. The Peabody Duck Master escorts the ducks from the Royal Duck Palace on the hotel's roof, to an elevator specially reserved for them. With all the pomp and circumstance of a royal event, the five Mallards, one drake and four hens, with their red-and-gold jacketed Duck Master, emerge from their elevator to the music of John Philip Sousa's King Cotton March.

They march on the red carpet, then mount three steps into the fountain, where they splash and and preen for the day. At 5pm, the procedure reverses and the ducks ceremoniously return to their penthouse palace.

http://www.peabodymemphis.com/asp/duc_DuckMarch.asp?sec=vgu⊂=duc

[bloodyjack]

8. Wow, Memphis?

It must be a holdover from the days when the ancient Egyptians worshipped the duck

[mcscajun]

9. Who has the link to the "Duck Pond"?

I still have the MP3 of the quacking ducks...but I can't find the site it came from anymore.

Hope somebody knows what I'm talking about. :)

[Cuban_Liberal]

10. Ducks are the dogs of the avian world.

Let's face it---they're cuter than chickens, and a damned sight smarter.

;)