Coastal Resource Information System
Dabbling Ducks
METADATADabbling Ducks are highly vulnerable to oil on water (King and Sanger 1979). Mortality of oiled birds can be very high. Because Dabbling Ducks frequent nearshore waters, offshore oil slicks are not likely to impact large numbers of these birds.
Dabbling Ducks are not vulnerable to oil cleanup during the breeding season because they do not nest on the coast. At other times of the year they may habituate to disturbances or easily move away from them.
Some Dabbling Duck species present in Coastal BC:
Detailed species reports from the British Columbia Species and Ecosystem Explorer are available by following the above links.
BC Dabbling Duck species are also breifly described below in exerpts from: The Birds of British Columbia, Vol. 2, Nonpasserines: Diurnal Birds of Prey through Woodpeckers by R. Wayne Campbell, Neil K. Dawe, Ian McTaggart-Cowan, John M. Cooper, Gary W. Kaiser and Michael C.E. McNall.
Mallard
The Mallard is the most abundant and widely distributed duck in
British Columbia. They virtually occur where open water is present. Shallow marshes are
preferred, but Mallards also frequent lakes, rivers, sloughs and coastal marine waters.
Salmon spawning rivers are used in coastal areas in autumn and winter. (Photo credits:
Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Province of British Columbia)
American Wigeon
The American Wigeon occurs throughout the province from
sea level to 1300m elevation. On the coast it occurs mostly in sheltered waters; it is
seldom found along the exposed outer coast. Preferred habitats include estuaries,
mudflats, lagoons, and shallow bays with seaweed and eel grass. In winter, the American
Wigeon is the most numerous of the Dabbling Ducks along the coast, where it concentrates
mainly in estuaries and nearby agricultural areas. (Photo credit: Ministry of
Environment, Lands and Parks, Province of British Columbia.)
Green-winged Teal
On the coast the Green-winged Teal prefers tidal mudflats,
which are used more by this species than any other duck. It is very rarely seen on pelagic
waters, but may rest during migration in marine lagoons, or just offshore in rafts of
several hundred birds. This duck forages in emergent vegetation, along shorelines and in
wet, shallow, muddy areas. It loafs on exposed shorelines, mudflats, shallow marshes and
lakes. (Photo credits: Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks, Province of British
Columbia).
Northern Pintail
On
the coast, the Northern Pintail prefers tidal marshes, shallow foreshore
waters, estuaries, exposed eel grass beds, mudflats, agricultural fields
and lagoons. During migration it also occurs in pelagic waters. They usually
migrate as groups of 10 to 200 birds, but flocks of up to 1,500 birds
have been seen. Major staging areas on the coast are Clayquot Sound and
the Fraser River delta. (Photo credit: Ministry of Environment, Lands
and Parks, Province of British Columbia.)