waterfowl — The Chronicler's Tales

Woody Wood Duck, Prince of the Pond at 59th Street in Central Park, is my favorite wild animal to watch. I try to see him as often as I can, and I make up stories about him. I stand on the shore and call out, "Woody! Woody! Woody!" in almost a song, and Woody will swim over to me, occasionally requesting peanuts and sunflower seeds.

*Woody, April 4, at the Pond, Central Park*

I tell people that Woody thinks he is a mallard because he swims around with a mallard pair and chases male mallards away from the female. I tell them that the female likes Woody because he keeps her from getting attacked by mallards other than her mate. And when her mate copulates with her, Woody bites his tail feathers.

*Woody and the female mallard he swims around with, April 4, the Pond*

When young male mallards come to the Pond, Uncle Woody teaches them about peanuts and standing up against the mallards and behaving like a Woody Wood Duck rather than just a "normal" wood duck. I call these young male wood duck students "Junior" or "Not Woody." J3 (Junior, power of 3) is a young wood duck that Woody has trained recently.

*J3, Woody's student, April 4, the Pond*

Much as it is fun to make up stories about what Woody does and thinks, every now and then Woody behaves like a male duck. This happened on April 4, when Woody was seen force copulating with a female mallard, a sight that was a little disturbing to watch. I recorded the behavior, trying to refrain from judgment, and then tried to present it as a naturalist's observation.

Watching male mallards gang attack a female mallard is disturbing, because it is brutal and primal. As I female, I found it evoked my fear of rape. This kind of behavior is common in the world of waterfowl, and has been labeled as "rape" by some naturalist sources. But that is anthropomorphizing behavior that apparently has evolved to continue the different duck species. Waterfowl, especially mallards and wood ducks, tend to hybridize more than any other bird species, although many of the hybrid offspring are infertile.

*The female mallard remained under the bush for a couple of minutes after the forced copulation.*

I have watched five mallards almost drown a female mallard. To watch a duck I thought I understood participate in this behavior reminded me that Woody is indeed a wild animal and will behave as wild animals do.

I decided to accept Woody for the wood duck that he is. I have continued to visit him at the Pond, although I couldn't find him last night when I looked. He has left the Pond in the past, only to return in June to molt. If he has gone, I wish him safe travels and hope that he returns soon.

It has been really cold in New York since Christmas, and I've been going down to the 59th Street Pond to feed Woody and his buddies as the ice takes up more of their habitat, plus checking out the ducks and other waterfowl at the Reservoir in Central Park, and at the beaches at Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn and Great Kills on Staten Island. These birds seem so resilient in the freezing cold (although I have seen casualties, often the result of a duck or cormorant trying to land on the ice and breaking a leg).

*Woody Wood Duck, Jan. 9, 2018, the Pond*

*Northern pintail and mallards, the Pond, Jan. 9*

I put together a video homage to the ducks, geese, gulls and other water birds I've seen during the cold weather. I call it Cold Ducks!!! and it's set to music by Debussy. It features hooded mergansers, ruddy ducks (including the only time I've seen one try to run on ice), a common loon, ring-billed gulls, buffleheads, greater scaup, herring gulls, Canada geese, wood ducks (Woody and his buddies at 59th Street, plus two at the Reservoir), long-tailed ducks (the first I've ever seen — a video of them to come soon!), ring-necked ducks (my second-favorite duck), mallards, northern pintail (Pinny), American coot, American black ducks, northern shovelers, great black-backed gulls, brant and red-breasted mergansers.

Below you can find a photo gallery of some of the cold ducks and other freezing birdies.

*Hooded merganser on the Reservoir, Jan. 2*

*Northern pintail (Pinny) at the Pond, Jan. 9*

*Ring-necked duck on the Reservoir, Jan. 9*

*Ring-billed gull, Floyd Bennett Field, Jan. 10*

The photos below were taken Dec. 27 and 28, 2017, and Jan. 2, 3, 9 and 10, 2018: Canada geese, long-tailed duck, hooded merganser (female), wood duck (Woody's nephew), wood duck (back, at Reservoir), male and female ring-necked ducks, black ducks, great black-backed gulls, northern pintail, herring gulls, American coot (you can really see those great "fern feet"), red-breasted merganser, more black-backed gulls.

The Woody Narrative

Ducky, It's Cold Outside!