Strange birdy things

[CJR]

For the ornithologists amongst you - any ideas what sort of bird nests in this box we spotted on the Erne near Enniskillen recently? There were several dotted along the reed beds.

 

 

Also, what the hell is growing out the heads of these ducks ??!! Our daughter asked what sort of ducks these were and I had no idea!

 

 

[nb blackbeauty]

Looks like common duck having bad hair day

[Phil Ambrose]

Nest boxes? Reed beds? maybe there for the benefit of Reed Buntings, very common around reed beds and as for the ducks, you could try e-mailing the pix to Birdtrack, who will oblige with an answer, sorry dont know there web address but I'm sure Google does.

 

Phil

[Christine]

Looks like a house for a Wood duck or Mandarin duck - they normally nest in trees. I don't know what the mallard type thing is though.

 

Could it be that Mrs Mallard has been radished by a blighter of a bloke who got her by the scruff of her head?

 

Edited because I wasn't paying full attention to the matter in hand.

Edited August 1, 2009 by Christine

[casper ghost]

There'es a duck like that at Penkridge, it's like that because another male duck keeps attacking it, pecking at the back of it's head

[nb Innisfree]

Fantastic nest builders whatever they are

[Boatless]

Crested ducks :

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crested_Duck_(domestic_breed)

 

 

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Ducks/C...estedDucks.html

[pirate paul]

For the ornithologists amongst you - any ideas what sort of bird nests in this box we spotted on the Erne near Enniskillen recently? There were several dotted along the reed beds.

 

 

Also, what the hell is growing out the heads of these ducks ??!! Our daughter asked what sort of ducks these were and I had no idea!

 

 

We have got a (Canada I think) goose that thinks its a swan, it hangs about with the swans and comes begging for bread.

[Phil Ambrose]

There'es a duck like that at Penkridge, it's like that because another male duck keeps attacking it, pecking at the back of it's head

 

It may be that the other duck is female and the males grip the feathers on the back of the neck/head when mating. You can always tell the ducks that are popular with the drakes because of the bald patch on the back of their neck.

Generally ducks have straight tails and drakes have a few curly tail feathers.

[MartinClark]

It may be that the other duck is female and the males grip the feathers on the back of the neck/head when mating. You can always tell the ducks that are popular with the drakes because of the bald patch on the back of their neck.

Anyone fancy a quick duck?