Deuk
| Deuks | |
|---|---|
| |
| The broun bird on the left is the female; the bricht ane on the richt is the male, cryed a drake. This is the maist commonest deuk in the warld, the Anas platyrhynchos[1] | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kinrick: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Cless: | Aves |
| Order: | Anseriformes |
| Faimily: | Anatidae |
Deuks is birds in the faimilie Anatidae. Deuks is sib tae swans an geese that's baith a pairt o the same faimilie. Deuks isna a monophyletic group. Thay'r a 'form taxon', seein as swans an geese (in the same faimilie) isna cryed deuks. The main differ is deuks is mair wee-er, an thay'r hauses isna sae lang.[2] Ither soumin an divin birds, like grebes and loons, isna deuks. Maist deuks is aquatic birds. Thay can be fund in baith sautwatter an caller watter.
Deuks lays eggs ance a year an eats aquatic plants an totie wee beasties. Daiblin deuks feeds on the surface o the watter or on laund, or as deep as thay can get by up-endin wioot bein haelie unnerwatter.[3] The ar a kaim-like structur cryed a pecten alang the edge o the neb. This streens the watter skooshin oot the side o the neb an traps onie maet. The pecten is uised for tae clean pens an aa.[3] Divin deuks dives deep for tae get thair maet.
A wheen deuks spends the summer in a different bit frae the bit thay'r bide in in the winter. Deuks can be fund aa ower the warld, but Antarctica. Twa-three deuk species bides in the Sooth Georgia an Auckland Isles, an thay'r subantarctic. A lot o species haes estaiblisht thairsels in ootland isles, the likes o Kerguelen or Hawaii.
Some deuks is bred an keepit by humans. Thay'r no wild deuks. Thay'r keepit for tae provide maet (flesh an eggs), or for tae uise thair pens for pillaes an ither things in the hoose.
Deuks is whiles keepit as pets. Thay'r aften keepit by groups o fowk on public pownds for thair brawness an lithsome naitur. Fowk aften feeds deuks in ponds stale breid, thinkin that the deuks will be for something tae eat. Houaniver breid isna guid for ducks an can kill thaim.
Daffy Duck frae Looney Tunes an Donald Duck frae Disney is weel-kent fictional deuks.
References
- ↑ Etymology: Ancient Greek for "flat-billed deuk" [1]
- ↑ Titlow, Budd (2013). Bird Brains: inside the strange minds of our fine feathered friends (in Inglis). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780762797707.
- ↑ a b Ogden, Evans. "Dabbling ducks" (in Inglis). CWE. Retrieved 7 Juin 2021.
