Ducks! (Specifically, ducks in trees)

Do ducks normally hang out in trees? We saw some sucks in trees while visiting DeLand, Florida, last night and said, Hey, ducks in trees. 

And, yeah, I had a wide-angle lens mounted, so you get what you get. 

In reply to David S. Wallens :

I don't think I have normally seen ducks hanging out in trees. We do get turkeys in the trees at our house, sometimes.

David S. Wallens said:

And, yeah, I had a wide-angle lens mounted, so you get what you get. 

I would argue that while it does makes the ducks hard to see, the picture is quite pleasing because you had a wide-angle lens mounted.

I know chickens aren't often found in trees, but I've heard of them roosting in trees.  And so it could be with ducks, I suppose.

I've never seen a duck in a tree but I've also never looked for ducks in a tree. 

If I was a duck in Florida, I would be sitting in a tree. Fewer alligators.

We get ducks in trees that have branches above the lake all the time. I don't see them in trees much more than a few feet from the water though.

i came home one day and there was a duck sitting on the peak of my roof.  it was a very Far Side moment.

superfund said:

I've never seen a duck in a tree but I've also never looked for ducks in a tree. 

They say if you believe that four-leaf clovers exist, you are much more likely to find one.  I wonder if the same applies to ducks in trees?

There were two ducks in trees at this park, by the way.

My friend noticed them first. 

Knowing what other, smaller birds do when they're hanging out in a tree - usually above a freshly-washed car - I'd be a little nervous walking under that.

wae said:

Knowing what other, smaller birds do when they're hanging out in a tree - usually above a freshly-washed car - I'd be a little nervous walking under that.

Might be an appropriate time to yell "duck!"

Several duck species nest in cavities in trees near water, such as Mergansers and Wood Ducks. I don't think that is what is going on in your photo (wrong species, and perhaps a bit late in the year) but still interesting to note.

If I was a duck in alligator infested water I'd sit in a tree as well...

Google "whistling ducks". We have them down here by Cocoa Beach. They habitually hang out in trees and on power lines.

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Watch out.  It's a trap.  They have the high ground.

jharry3 said:

If I was a duck in alligator infested water I'd sit in a tree as well...

Yeah but then you got snakes... and falling iguanas.

If bears can hang out in eagle's nest, ducks can hang out in trees. 

How has a thread about ducks lasted almost 24 hours without JG posting in it?

Or maybe he's still dealing with the gator in his pond from a recent FB post... 

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

How has a thread about ducks lasted almost 24 hours without JG posting in it?

Or maybe he's still dealing with the gator in his pond from a recent FB post... 

Yeah sorry I've been busy reading everyone's weird burger opinions.

Anyway, muscovy ducks, which is what we're looking at in the tree there, are excellent fliers (especially the females) and are perchers as well. They'll occasionally nest in trees, but their nests tend to be kind of big and spread out, so they need some flat space since they mostly just use down to pad them (or, insulation they tear off the walls of the shop, in my case). 

Female muscovies won't generally collect stuff to make a nest. The nest gets made with whatever is in reach of the nest, plus their own down, which is why they prefer ground nesting. 

Our gang does some flying in the early evenings from time to time, sometimes taking just a short lap around the yard and sometimes taking big laps around the neighborhood, flying well out of sight and staying aloft for several minutes. The females weigh less than half what the males do, while having pretty much the same wing area, so you can see pretty easily why they're better flyers. The females can actually glide and maneuver really well, while the males tend to hold themselves aloft through sheer brute force and don't have much directional control. One of our drakes got spooked by the neighbor dog one time and took off right toward me, but he couldn't get enough lift to go over me or cut well enough to go around. by the time I realized what as going on, he was only a few feet away, so I figured I'd do a "soft catch," but he basically knocked me clean off my feet. it was like trying to catch a large ham that someone lobbed out of the back of a moving truck at you. 

Anywa, my best advice whenever you see a duck perching in a tree, or on your roof, or on one of your LED fixtures in the shop is absolutely do not stand directly under them. Nothing good hits the ground under a duck.

Wood ducks nest in trees. We even built special bird houses for them as a conservation effort when I was a kid. 

We have two muscovies in with our chicken flock and they usually roost on the bars with the chickens.

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