BULLETIN No. 862 
Contribution from the Bureau of Biological Survey 
E. W. NELSON, Chief 
Washington, D. C. PROFESSIONAL PAPER. December 30, 1929 
FOOD HABITS OF SEVEN SPECIES OF AMERICAN 
| SHOAL-WATER DUCKS. 
By Dovetas C. Massort,! Assistant in Economic Ornithology. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. | Page 
INN PROCKORIN SU ase hocsoccos sadocnosencEosGe 1 | Bilue-wingedspealees a tse saa ss eee eee 22 
Gachylie fens ede pane cere anaenduaeemnaetoS iP Cabavav yaenvorade) (55 eee asaEBeMat eS aoSoaG aS 28 
Ball dipatieeeres ase sissies sce eee icin S 2 acieeieis 10 | PUN Gat eee ere ars alee ce nals Sina ta aoe 31 
OIC OEY A Walken = ph oneceGacnonEeocpeecac 16 | WiOOCUAUICKEGS Smee. Jel taitclnicts ciate eee aes 37 
Green-winsedut calle emactec csc recterc wee cocci 17 
INTRODUCTION. 
The wild ducks of the United States belong to three main groups: 
The mergansers (Merginae), known also as fish ducks or sawbills; the 
river ducks (Anatinae), called also shoal-water, puddle, plash, or. 
tipping ducks; and the sea ducks (Fuligulinae), otherwise known as. 
deep-water or diving ducks. This bulletin treats of the food habits 
of eight species ? of shoal-water ducks, one of which, the European 
widgeon, is only a straggler in the United States. Wild ducks are 
our most important game birds, their value to the people of the 
1 Douglas Clifford Mabbott, author of this bulletin, was a member of the heroic Sixth Regiment, United 
States Marine Corps, and participated in all the hard fighting done by that organization at Bouresches, 
Belleau Wood, Soissons, and in the St. Mihielsalient. He was killed in action September 15, 1918, while 
taking part in an advance in the battle of St. Mihiel, and was buried near the village of Xammie, near 
Thiaucourt, France. He was born at Arena, Wis., March 12, 1893, and became a member ofthe staff ofthe _ 
Biological Survey, December 1, 1915.— EDITOR. 
2 Three other species, the mallard, black duck, and southern black duck, are treated in Bull.720, U.S. 
Dept. Agr., Food Habits of the Mallard Ducks of the United States, by W. L. McAtee, pp. 35, pl. 1, Dec. 
23, 1918. 
Notre.—This bulletin presents a technical study of the food habits of seven species of American shoal- 
water ducks: The gadwall, the baldpate, the green-winged, blue-winged, and cinnamon teals, the pintail 
and the wood duck; and includes a brief note on the European widgeon, which is a straggler in the United 
States. The vegetable food preferences exhibited willserve as guide to certain wild-duck foods that may 
- be propagated when it is sought to increase the numbers of these valuable game ducks either in the wild 
state or in domestication. For specific information on this topic, see Bull. 205, U. S. Dept. Agr., Eleven 
Important Wild-duck Foods, in which are discussed musk grass, duckweeds, frogbit, thaJia, water elm, 
swamp privet, eelgrass, widgeon grass, watercress, waterweed, and coontail; pp. 25, figs. aS, May 20, 1915; 
also Bull. 465, Propagation of Wild-duck Foods, in which are discussed wild rice, wild celery, pondweeds, 
delta potato, wapato, chufa, wild millet, and banana waterlily; pp. 40, figs. 35, Feb. 23, 1917. 
179375°—20——1 
