Ducks seems to be a child’s favourite swimming bird and the male Mallard with its shiny green head and yellow beak appears to be the favourite. The Mallard can be seen in large ponds, lakes and canals and will often approach humans when it is looking for food. Tufted Ducks can also become quite tame, but some are quite timid like the Eider and the Mallard.

We also have the Shoveler which looks a little bit similar to the Mallard because it has a shiny dark green head, but it is different in many ways: its beak is very long and almost spactula-looking and it has a white neck, whereas the Mallard has a brown neck. The Shoveler is also mainly found in wetland or marsh land areas and it is not tame. The Water Rail can also be found in marshes as well as in dense reed beds and is a very secretive bird that is more likely to heard than seen. It can make loud pig-like squeaking sounds.

In this website we have written about 5 swimming birds and we will be writing about the Coot, Gadwall, Goosander, Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe, Red-breasted Merganser, Moorhen and the Pochard soon. Some of these birds are quite tame, some are secretive and some like to sleep a lot like the Pochard. All of them have their own unique personality, their own appearance and their own preferred habitat. We hope you enjoy reading about them.