r/duck • u/ProfessionalFox4292 • 2d ago
Other Question What are these ducks doing?
in NYC Central Park yesterday
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u/Bird_Herder 2d ago
The swirling motion stirs up sediment that the shovelers then filter out with their specialized bills.
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u/annapartlow 2d ago
This sounds real. Let’s go with this. I was with all the summoning and maybe a vortex but this sounds right.
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u/heckfyre 2d ago
I’ve seen shovelers do this in pairs, but didn’t realize they would do it with a flock.
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u/bearbranch 2d ago
Releasing the quakken
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u/Quick_Razzmatazz1862 2d ago
I read this and laughed
Just then my ducks started honking and started me
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u/Hepm3 2d ago
Genuine answer, there’s probably something that they’re taking turns picking at. I raised ducks and geese. If there’s something in the water that they can eat or are interested in, they’ll do this. It becomes nearly impossible to see what it is because they’re constantly pushing it below the surface.
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u/Ill_Most_3883 1d ago
This honestly looks way too organized. It looks like an instinctual response where they see others moving and join in with them. You can see this happening again on a smaller scale in the background.
Others said that this species does this to stirr up sediment to gain food and it sounds plausible.
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u/RyuuLight 2d ago
Stirring up food. But it's also a way to prevent ice from forming. Eiders and scoters often do this since they can be in arctic areas. In this vid, obviously it's not in risk of freezing. But it's NYC. It could easily freeze over if the water goes still long enough
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u/Terrible-Bluebird710 2d ago
They're just trying to stir up food so they can survive the winter. Northern Shovelers are some of the coolest wild duck species. You got some awesome footage of such a cool moment! I rarely see them here in Virginia.
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u/Chipperspls 2d ago
The duck spiral of death. Just like ants who catch each others' scent in a circle and just keep following each others' pheromones until they die.
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u/circakilling 1d ago
All I think of is the JoJo meme with the song playing and the guys dancing in a circle
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u/RefusePlenty9589 1d ago
me and my friend group casually making a whorl pool in the pool even though we know it's not possible
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u/Particular_Valuable5 2d ago
From the sounds of the video, seems like they are just floating in circles in front of a bottom……
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u/Guterafrykanczyk 2d ago
well ducks are naturally metalheads many of them love listening to it
here we can see what's called a moshpit. usually it happens on concerts but there are ducks. they don't care.
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u/bearbranch 2d ago
Right on thanks folks. I fed my quackheads good today. Hope you are having a peaceful and happy time. Best.
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u/Agitated-Tie-8255 2d ago
This is typical behaviour for Northern Shovelers. They’re swirling to stir up food beneath the surface. I’ve seen them do it singly or in pairs, but never in a cyclone like this, amazing!