### animal | vertebrate | bird:

Waterfowl
* All waterfowl share certain characteristics
  - use their feet as rudders while flying
* Many waterfowl depend on prairie grasslands for breeding and wintering during migration
  - prefer nesting in thick lakeside vegetation
* Many waterfowl spend the winter here where foodand shelter are abundant
  - winter in the Geyser Valley
* Most waterfowl are migratory
  - present only during late spring, summer, and early fall
  - rather messy creatures and geese are no exception
  - learn the route and their destination or wintering area from their parents
  - waterfowls create many problems
* Most waterfowls eat diets
  - seeds
  - vary diets
  - live in water
* Most waterfowls require food
  - habitats
* Some waterfowls eat plants.
* Some waterfowls have penises
  - storage capacity
  - live in ground
* are a common sight along the lakeshore
  - site in surrounding waters, as well as song birds and birds of prey
  - about the only birds around in any quantities
* are abundant in the park during the migration periods
  - when the area floods in mid-winter
  - also rice consumers
  - among our most observable wildlife
* are among the most recognized and economically important wild animals in North America
  - region's most abundant and diverse groups of wintering birds
  - common where water occurs
  - fun, but they can be messy
  - less likely to encounter ships as they nest inland
* are more at rest on quiet water at daybreak
  - resistant to avian influenza than are domestic poultry
  - mostly in flightless condition now as they molt their flight feathers
  - normally monogamous and solitary nesters
  - prevalent in the lakes
  - sensitive to human activity occurring near their feeding and resting areas
  - very susceptible to infestations of worms
  - widespread
* begin their northward migration by late in the month.
* benefit the rice fields by eating weed seeds and young shoots.
* can be difficult to disperse once they become established on a pond or feeding site
  - numerous in winter depending on ice conditions
* catch fish.
  - flood tolerant weeds and weed seeds
* eat seeds and roots
  - from agricultural pest plants such as red rice
* eat the achenes
  - stems and seeds of underwater plants and fish eat the insects
* float in lakes.
* get sick, too.
* have fleshy feet with little blood circulation so they are less sensitive to cold
  - very good color vision, so hunters generally wear camouflaged clothing
* includes air sacs
  - bird's feet
  - brains
  - breasts
  - cell membranes
  - cells
  - chest cavities
  - chests
  - corpi
  - cytoplasm
  - ducks, geese and swans
  - ears
  - faces
  - heads
  - lips
  - mouths
  - nuclei
  - plasma membranes
  - quill feathers
  - rib cages
  - second joints
  - sections
  - skulls
  - sterna
  - talons
  - vacuoles
  - wishbones
* leave northern Alaska by several routes.
* love the seeds and muskrats eat the rootstalks.
* often aggregate in flooded agricultural fields
  - build nests in the thick stands they form
  - sit and next on top of such dens
* provide significant economic and recreational benefits to the citizens of Florida.
* rely on wetlands across the nation as safe, reliable stops during their migration.
* tend to be pretty hardy birds in the winter anyway
  - waste a substantial amount of feed if it is in a mash form
* use the Missouri River as a resting place on their southward journey.
* use the site as both a migrational staging area and a wintering ground
  - extensively during migration and winter
* wading birds, raptors, and songbirds abound at various times of the year.