Duck

Ducks (family Anatidae) are a family of semiaquatic birds. They are generally told apart from the other members of the family, the geese and swans, by their shorter necks and smaller size, although there is actually no real difference - many so-called geese are more closely related to ducks, and vice versa. Most ducks live and feed around water, some filtering food from the surface and others diving to forage underwater. Ducks have a long history with mankind, having been hunted since prehistoric times. Two species, the mallard and muscovy duck, have been domesticated.

## Appearances in Dorling Kindersley Vision media

The Mallard duck is the most occurring bird in any Dorling Kindersley Vision media, appearing in twenty-three different episodes.

### See How They Grow

The mallard duck appears in two different episodes in See How They Grow. In Farm Animals, a duck briefly appears in the Chick segment as the rightful owner of a bird house. In Pond Animals, the life-cycle of a mallard is shown in the Duck segment, while another mallard, described as a silver-wing duck, also appears in the Dragonfly segment.

### Eyewitness

All three seasons of Eyewitness have an episode containing a duck. Season three has three episodes, season one has two episodes and the second season has just a single episode with a duck species shown.

* **SEASON ONE**: Bird, Skeleton
* **SEASON TWO**: Pond and River
* **SEASON THREE**: Flight, Survival, Life

The duck has its most important role in Eyewitness in the Bird episode, as a hatching mallard egg is the hero of the episode - by the time the episode ends, the duckling has fully hatched out and is setting out on life's journey. Only three species of duck actually appear in Eyewitness, with the enormous majority of appearances being of the mallard. Torrent ducks appear in Pond and River, while both Bird and Survival include the wood duck. The wood duck is the only duck species that appears solely in Eyewitness.

### Amazing Animals

Ducks appear in all four seasons of Amazing Animals. Season three has the most appearances, with seven episodes altogether. Season two has five episodes, season four has four and season one has three episodes that include a duck species.

* **SEASON ONE**: Tropical Birds, Animal Appetites, Animal Babies
* **SEASON TWO**: Animal Records, Animal Colors, Animal Mothers, Seashore Animals, Animal Families
* **SEASON THREE**: Slimy Animals, Giant Animals, Creepy Crawly Animals, Farm Animals, Animal Changes, Extinct Animals, Animal Eggs
* **SEASON FOUR**: Around the World, Polar Animals, Scaly Animals, River Animals

Four species of duck appear in Amazing Animals, with most being of the mallard. There are single appearances of the torrent duck and muscovy duck, along with four episodes containing European eider ducks. The European eider is the only duck species to appear solely in Amazing Animals.

### Creatures Fantastic

Domesticated mallards appear, for a few seconds, in stock footage used in the Creatures Fantastic episode Dragons. They are shown swimming in a rice paddy field, while the subject of Chinese dragons bringing fertility to farmland is being described.

### Baby Animals

In the Baby Animals episode On The Farm, a muscovy duck and her ducklings is the first animal searched for and found by Doodle the puppy.

### PB Bear and Friends

One of the characters in PB Bear and Friends is Bob, a duck.

## Total species

* Torrent duck (*Merganetta armata*)
* Muscovy duck (*Cairina moschata*)
* Wood duck (*Aix sponsa*)
* European eider (*Somateria mollissima*)
* Mallard (*Anas platyrhynchos*)

## Gallery

Torrent duckWood duckEuropean eiderMallard