1. Small wild or domesticated web-footed broad-billed swimming bird usually having a depressed body and short legs.
2. Flesh of a duck (domestic or wild).
Any of several short-legged waterbirds with webbed feet and flattened bills, of the family Anatidae, which also includes the larger geese and swans. Ducks were domesticated for eggs, meat, and feathers by the ancient Chinese and the ancient Maya (see poultry). Most ducks live in fresh water, feeding on worms and insects as well as vegetable matter. They are generally divided into dabbling ducks and diving ducks.
The three front toes of a duck’s foot are webbed and the hind toe is free. The bill is skin-covered with a horny tip provided with little plates (lamellae) through which the duck is able to strain its food from water and mud. A typical species is the mallard Anas platyrhynchos, 58 cm/1.9 ft, found over most of the northern hemisphere. The male (drake) has a glossy green head, brown breast, gray body, and yellow bill. The female (duck) is speckled brown, with a duller bill. The male molts and resembles the female for a while just after the breeding season. There are many other species of duck including teal, eider, merganser, shelduck, and shoveler. They have different-shaped bills according to their diet and habitat; for example, the shoveler has a wide spade-shaped bill for scooping insects off the surface of water. The main threat to the survival of ducks in the wild is hunting by humans. The pink-headed duck of India and Nepal is believed to be extinct, no wild specimens having been seen since 1936. + prikaži više