Waterfowl Anatomy & Physiology Basics

Key Points

  • Waterfowl possess a dense coat of insulating down and a thick layer of contour feathers.
  • Waterfowl typically molt all flight feathers at once, becoming temporarily flightless for 3 to 6 weeks.
  • Ducks are usually sexually dimorphic. Except for a few exceptions, males have iridescent plumage and distinct patterns.
  • Normal waterfowl carefully preen their plumage using secretions from the uropygial gland, which serves to maintain feather condition and waterproofing.
  • Waterfowl feet are palmate or partially webbed.
  • Waterfowl possess a highly specialized bill that is used to filter and sort food items. Touch and taste receptors work in coordination with keratinized bristles on the tongue that interdigitate with lamellae of the beak to serve as a straining organ.
  • The nail is a shield-like region of thickened epidermis at the tip of the upper bill that is particularly sensitive to touch and is used to grasp objects or sort food items.
  • Geese and swans possess well-developed ceca that aid in the digestion of fibrous plant material.
  • Most male waterfowl possess an intromittent or erectile phallus that has a unique corkscrew structure.
  • The male duck and swan possess a tracheal bulla, which serves as a resonator, to produce loud, booming vocalizations.
  • Waterfowl chicks are precocial. Youngsters can eat, swim, and dive almost from hatch.

Waterfowl belong to Order Anseriformes. Virtually all anseriforms belong to family Anatidae, which consists of ducks, geese, and swans. If you are comfortable with psittacine anatomy and physiology, then many features of waterfowls will be familiar. LafeberVet has listed twelve interesting and clinically significant facts about waterfowl . . .


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References


1.Anderson DL. Waterfowl rehabilitation: A primer for veterinarians. Semin Avian Exotic Pet Med. 2004;13(4): 213-222. doi: 1053/j.saep.2004.04.007.

2.Backues KA. Anseriformes. In: Miller RE, Fowler ME (eds). Fowler’s Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine. St. Louis: Elsevier; 2015. Pp. 116-117.

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6.(Fitzgerald B. Waterfowl medicine and surgery. Proc Annu Conf Wild West Veterinary 2014.

7.Flinchum GB. Management of waterfowl. In: Harrison GJ, Lightfoot TL (eds). Clinical Avian Medicine. Palm Beach, FL: Spix Publishing; 2006. Pp. 831-840.

8.Gerlach H. Anatiformes. In: Altman R, Clubb SL, Dorrestein GM, Quesenberry K (eds). Avian Medicine and Surgery. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders; 1997. Pp. 960-961, 965-972.

9.Giraudeau M, Duval C, Guillon N, et al. Effects of access to preen gland secretions on mallard plumage. Naturwissenschaften. 2010;97(6):577-81. doi: 10.1007/s00114-010-0673-z. Epub 2010 May 2. PMID: 20437221.

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14.Klasing KC. Comparative Avian Nutrition. New York: CAB International; 1998. Pp. 9-35, 71-124.

15.König HE, Korbel R, Liebich HG. Avian Anatomy: Textbook and Colour Atlas. Sheffield: 5m Publishing. 2009.

16.Lynch R. ‘Killer’ swan attacks Illinois caretaker until he drowns. April 16, 2012. Los Angeles Times web site. Available at https://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/16/health/la-na-nn-killer-swan-attacks-chicago-man-until-he-drowns-20120416. Accessed on April 22, 2023.

17.Makram A, Galal A, El-Attar AH. A comparison of three duck strains (Pekin, Muscovy & Sudani) in Egypt for sexual dimorphism with regard to body weight, body measurements and carcass traits. Journal of Genetic and Environmental Resources Conservation. 2021;9(1):50-57.

18.Malka S, Hawkins MG, Jones JH, et al. Effect of body position on respiratory system volumes in anesthetized red-tailed hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) as measured via computed tomography. Am J Vet Res. 2009;70(9):1155-60. doi: 10.2460/ajvr.70.9.1155. PMID: 19719433.

19.Møller AP, Laursen K. Large feet are beneficial for eiders Somateria mollissima. Ecol Evol. 2019;9(15):8580-8586. doi: 10.1002/ece3.5384. PMID: 31410263; PMCID: PMC6686295.

20.Olsen JH. Anseriformes. In: Ritchie BW, Harrison GJ, Harrison LR (eds). Avian Medicine: Principles and Application. Lake Worth, FL: Wingers Publishing; 1994. Pp. 1237-1275.

21.Onbasilar EE, Erdem E, Gürcan IS, Poyraz Ö. Body weight and body measurements of male and female Pekin ducks obtained from breeder flocks of different age. Geflügelk. 2011;75(4):268- 272.

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24.Speer B. Beak deformities: Form, function, and treatment methods. Proc Annu Conf Assoc Avian Veterinarians 2014. P. 216.

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26.Valasek P, Macharia R, Neuhuber WL, et al. Lymph heart in chick–somitic origin, development and embryonic oedema. Development. 2007;134(24):4427-36. doi: 10.1242/dev.004697. Epub 2007 Nov 14. PMID: 18003736.

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Further reading

Brennan PL, Clark CJ, Prum RO. Explosive eversion and functional morphology of the duck penis supports sexual conflict in waterfowl genitalia. Proc Biol Sci. 2010;277(1686):1309-14. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2009.2139. Epub 2009 Dec 23. PMID: 20031991; PMCID: PMC2871948.

Clench MH, Mathias JR. The avian cecum:  A review. Wilson Bull. 1995;107(1):93-121.

Fernández-Juricic E, Moore BA, Doppler M, Freeman J, Blackwell BF, Lima SL, DeVault TL. Testing the terrain hypothesis: Canada geese see their world laterally and obliquely. Brain Behav Evol. 2011;77(3):147-58. doi: 10.1159/000326053. Epub 2011 May 6. PMID: 21546769.

Frank T, Probst A, König HE, Walter I. The syrinx of the male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos): special anatomical features. Anat Histol Embryol. 2007;36(2):121-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0264.2006.00737.x. PMID: 17371385.

Frank T, Walter I, Probst A, König HE. Histological aspects of the syrinx of the male mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). Anat Histol Embryol. 2006;35(6):396-401. doi: 10.1111/j.1439-0264.2006.00701.x. PMID: 17156094.

Giraudeau M, Czirják GÁ, Duval C, et al. Effect of preen oil on plumage bacteria: an experimental test with the mallard. Behav Processes. 2013;92:1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.beproc.2012.08.001. Epub 2012 Aug 23. PMID: 22940115.

Harem İS, Kocak M, Sari EK. The histological structure and histochemistry of the mucosa of the nasal conchae in geese, Anser anser. Biotech Histochem. 2018;93(6):432-441. doi: 10.1080/10520295.2018.1450523. Epub 2018 Apr 27. PMID: 29701117.

Hassanin A, Shoeib M, Massoud D. Micro- and macroanatomical features of the uropygial gland of duck (Anas platyrhynchos) and pigeon (Columba livia). Biotech Histochem. 2021;96(3):213-222. doi: 10.1080/10520295.2020.1782990. Epub 2020 Jun 30. PMID: 32603233.

Herrera AM, Brennan PL, Cohn MJ. Development of avian external genitalia: interspecific differences and sexual differentiation of the male and female phallus. Sex Dev. 2015;9(1):43-52. doi: 10.1159/000364927. Epub 2014 Jul 8. PMID: 25011524.

Jónsson JE, Afton AD, Homberger DG, Henk WG, Alisauskas RT. Do geese fully develop brood patches? A histological analysis of lesser snow geese (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) and Ross’s geese (C. rossii). J Comp Physiol B. 2006;176(5):453-62. doi: 10.1007/s00360-006-0066-y. Epub 2006 Jan 24. PMID: 16432729.

Kang H, Yan M, Yu Q, Yang Q. Characterization of nasal cavity-associated lymphoid tissue in ducks. Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2014;297(5):916-24. doi: 10.1002/ar.22888. Epub 2014 Mar 3. PMID: 24585532.

Lisney TJ, Stecyk K, Kolominsky J, et al. Ecomorphology of eye shape and retinal topography in waterfowl (Aves: Anseriformes: Anatidae) with different foraging modes. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol. 2013;199(5):385-402. doi: 10.1007/s00359-013-0802-1. Epub 2013 Mar 10. PMID: 23475299.

Olson SL. Multiple origins of the Ciconiiformes. Proc Colonial Waterbird Group. Vol. 2, 1979, Pp. 165–70. JSTOR.  doi:  10.2307/1520951.

Portugal SJ, Thorpe SK, Green JA, Myatt JP, Butler PJ. Testing the use/disuse hypothesis: pectoral and leg muscle changes in captive barnacle geese Branta leucopsis during wing moult. J Exp Biol. 2009;212(Pt 15):2403-10. doi: 10.1242/jeb.021774. PMID: 19617433.

Wang W, Wang F, Wang A, et al. Characterization of the microbiome along the gastrointestinal tracts of semi-artificially reared bar-headed geese (Anser indicus). Folia Microbiol (Praha). 2020;65(3):533-543. doi: 10.1007/s12223-019-00758-4. Epub 2019 Nov 25. PMID: 31768913.

 

To cite this page:

Pollock C. Waterfowl anatomy and physiology: A dozen key facts. December 5, 2012, updated July 31, 2023.. LafeberVet Web site. Available at https://lafeber.com/vet/waterfowl-anatomy-physiology-a-dozen-key-facts/