Ducks and Things

Good morning!
I'm doing school right now, so no time to explain why I haven't posted for a week (and after saying I'd post all the time & more often ...how hypocritical...).
Instead, I gotta right a report on Marshes and four birds that are sometimes found in them. This all relates to chapter 5 of The Silver Chair in The Chronicles of Narnia, because I do a study guide on those books for school.

So without further ado, I give you:
MARSHLANDS AND THEIR BIRDS*
(*all info & pics from Wikipedia ...so not all that professional)

Ahem.

What do you think of when you think of a marsh? Do you think of sludgy, slimy, swampy water that's stiff with mud and bacteria?
Well actually, instead of all that nastiness there are many different types of beautiful, living, breathing, flying things. And no, I'm not talking about mosquitoes.
Take the Black Heron, for an example.
Now, this bird has quite the talent for thinking up smart ways to get a meal!
Have you ever noticed when fishing, that the fish tend to stay in the shade, away from the glare of the sun, and away from being very visible? Well, these good-sized birds got the idea of making a big canopy with their wings to lure the fish, and then snapping the fish up when they're attracted to the shade! Pretty smart huh?

Another bird that you may be able to see in marsh-like places, and that are a classification of the heron family, is the Bittern. These birds are more shy, secretive, skulking birds. If the American Bittern (pictured below), senses that its been seen, it will stop, stand stock-still, and point its beak up to blend in with the grasses surrounding it.

According to Wikipedia, American Bitterns are found in 'soggy' areas, like bogs, marshes (of course!), and wet-meadows (whatever those are).

Moving on in the safari of marshish birds.
With a very sensitive, long bill, the Snipe uses its gifted little beak, to figure out what's on the menu in the mud, even when it can see the menu in the mud.
Another interesting thing about this bird, is how it got its name. Owing to its camouflage in the marshlands, and its queer flight path, only a extremely good gun-man would find hunting this bird easy. Hence, it was called a 'snipe' since only a
sniper could shoot it.


So far, so good. Now for the last of the marsh-birds!
Okay, okay, everyone could tell me what bird makes a quacking sound, but here are a couple interesting things about Ducks that you may not have know:

There are both salt-water ducks, and fresh-water ducks, the salties called 'diving ducks'; because they mostly dive deep for their lunch. And the fresh-waters call 'dabbling ducks' because they feed mainly on land of the surface-water.

Quacking isn't the only noise for ducks! And according to Wikipedia, only females quack. The other common sounds are whistles, yodels (??? ...never heard a duck yodel...), grunts, and cooing.

There was once a myth that duck-quacks didn't echo, but that was proved false.



So hopefully you have learned a bit on marsh-birds, fishing techniques, and duck-quacks!

Thanks for reading!
-Animal Lover