The Not-Ducks There are duck-like creatures that float in the same ponds and waterways used by ducks, often swimming side by side. These are what I call the Not-Ducks. It’s easy to be confused. Take the American Coot, for example. It can swim like a duck and forage for food like a duck… Still, the Coot is, in fact, a Not-Duck. Make the comparison. It’s obviously lacking some of the duck essentials… Out of water, the American Coot looks a lot like a black chicken, doesn’t it? Think of it as a chicken adapted for an aquatic lifestyle. Instead of webbed feet for swimming, the Coot is equipped with odd greenish feet… American Coot (male and female are identical) Here’s another Not-Duck. It’s the Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), commonly found in ponds and waterways… A closer look at these small and often solitary birds shows a beak rather than a bill… Another common Not-Duck is the Double-crested Cormorant, which is often mistaken at a distance for a merganser. The two species share a similar profile, and also share the same diving behavior, plunging in and re-emerging elsewhere… Double-crested Cormorant Hooded Merganser Female While Mergansers rarely leave the water, Cormorants spend a large chunk of time on land doing Not-Duck things (slideshow)… On a dockOn top of a shrimp boat On a pilingOn a pilingDrying feathers ashore To complicate things even more, there’s another diving bird in the same waterways as the Red-breasted Merganser and the Double-Crested Cormorant (see my post on Winter Look-alikes). This Not-Duck is the Common Loon, a bird that is extremely awkward on land… Common Loon Red-breasted Merganser Last but not least is this Not-Duck. Can you guess what it is, dabbling for food just like a Mallard? Here is this Not-Duck swimming like a duck (front and rear views)… It is, of course, the Canada Goose, a Not-Duck that is more of an oversized duck and a close relative of the duck. Check out the difference in size (goose on the left of a pair of Mallards)… Not-Ducks and ducks exist together and do just fine making their way in this world. We can appreciate the similarities between convergent species of water birds and also respect their differences. There’s room for plenty of diversity. See more about the Not-Ducks… Winter Look-alikes >> Common Loons in Winter >> Coastal Sunbathers >> Double-crested Cormorant >> Please follow and like: Share this:FacebookXLike this:Like Loading... Post navigation Diving DucksA Welcome Visitor: Baltimore Oriole