MIGRATIONS OF WATERFOWL 



In ducks, then, the juvenile behaves independently of parent, and its 

 movements outward from natal range are pioneerings. These young wander 

 randomly during late summer, and it is by such explorations that they build 

 their experience; by such roamings they learn their way about. The Egret 

 that wanders to Ontario and the Pintail that strays from Delta to Lake Win- 

 nipegosis have much in common. Like the bird of mythology, they may not 

 be aware of where they are going, but they learn where they have been. Just 

 as the downy duckling searches aimlessly for its first food, so must juveniles 

 explore to find their place in the world. 



The summer wanderings of young ducks are random only in terms of 

 compass direction; this travel is always aimed toward a favorable habitat.* 

 First, the shift is from water to water ; the many hundreds of young raised 

 on the scattered potholes of western Manitoba depart from their narrow 

 ponds and fly to larger places. Small potholes become vacant, larger sloughs 

 have more birds, while big marshes and lakes boast vast aggregations. The 

 heaviest movement is from the small waters to the large, but the innate 

 urge to travel is obeyed by the young of the big marshes too, and every year 

 bandings show that some Delta juveniles depart elsewhere during August 

 and September. 



The transfer is also of the few toward the many. Sixes become dozens, 

 dozens become scores, hundreds become thousands until, as old Ernie Cook 

 used to say, "You couldn't get another duck in the bay with a shoehorn." 

 However random the peregrinations of youth, these must eventually carry 

 the youngsters to the mouth of the Saskatchewan, to Lake Winnipegosis, to 

 Whitewater Lake, Libau, Delta, or some other rendezvous, where, from 

 August onward, the open waters and shorelines are strewn with ducks of 

 many kinds. Although forever lost to their parents, many young must eventu- 

 ally meet with experienced adults before autumn is ended. This is evidenced 

 by both banding and bag samples, and although the juveniles often greatly 

 outnumber their elders, it must be the rare young duck that reaches Novem- 

 ber and the southland without somewhere having joined company with ex- 

 perienced companions. 



In spring, all ducks, juveniles as well as adults, have a background of 

 experience, and their return to the breeding grounds cannot be classified as 

 of the unknown, the untried, the inexperienced. 



• See Figure 20, p. 145. 



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