The Duck Doctors are in, sharing insights from the wild!

Duck Doctors is a video series launched on the DUC YouTube channel earlier this year. Each Duck Doctors video features a DUC scientist who answers a question about wetlands, waterfowl or wildlife.

The first episode in the series tackles a question many Canadians ask us during fall migration season: Why do some ducks stay north in winter?

DUC research scientist Matt Dyson provides an information-packed answer in his three-minute video.  

“Migration is energetically expensive for waterfowl, and so if they don’t have to do it, they won’t,” says Dyson. “If there’s food and water available, there’s no need for them to migrate.”

In the Prairie provinces, where nearly all water freezes during the winter, most ducks must head south to find what they need to survive. But on fast-moving water and around the Great Lakes and ocean coastlines, ducks will often stay — provided weather conditions are not too severe. Climate change and changes in agricultural land-use practices are also reducing the distances some ducks need to migrate to find adequate food and water supplies. 

But wait — don’t ducks get too cold during Canadian winters?

Dyson explains three ways ducks can tough it out and stay warm: 

• When the water temperature is warmer than the air temperature, ducks will increase the amount of time spent sitting in the water.
• A duck’s feathers provide insulation and help to keep out the cold air.
• Ducks use counter-current heat exchange to lower the temperature of the blood going to their feet. A duck may be able to keep its core temperature around 25°C while dropping the temperature of their feet to a chilly 1°C. This reduces the difference in temperature between their feet and the cold ground, and therefore reduces the amount of body heat that can be lost.