Birds have a waterproof covering of feathers.
Feathers are both watertight and airtight, as well as waterproof.
Birds have a special gland near their tail. The gland, called the uropygial gland or preen gland, produces oil that makes the bird’s feathers waterproof.
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What is a group of waterfowls called?
Waterfowl are different species of ducks, geese, and other large aquatic (water) birds, especially game water birds.
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A swan is a large heavy bird, so how does it fly?
The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is a large water bird in the Anatidae family.
It grows to 125-170 centimetres (49-67 inches) tall. It is the second largest waterfowl in the world (the Trumpeter Swan is the largest), and it is one of the heaviest flying birds.
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The Carolina Duck (Aix sponsa) is a medium-sized perching duck and a wetlands bird – a waterfowl. It is also called a Wood Duck and it is related to the Asian Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata).
The male and female Carolina Duck look different. The male has distinctive multi-coloured iridescent feathers, red eyes, and a distinctive white mark down its neck. The female is less colorful, with white eye-rings and a whitish throat. Both the male and the female have crested heads.
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The Fulvous Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) is a wetlands bird, a waterfowl in the Anatidae family of ducks, geese, and swans. It is also known as the Fulvous Tree Duck. It has a whistling call.
The Fulvous Whistling Duck has reddish-brown feathers with a darker back, long legs, and a long grey beak. It has a white band across its black tail. It has a humped back and long neck.
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The Ruddy Shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) is a bird. It is a waterfowl in the Anatidae family of shelducks.
The Ruddy Shelduck has rusty, orange-brown feathers with a paler head. It has a narrow, black collar. Its tail and flight feathers are black with iridescent green feathers, contrasting with the white wing-coverts. Its beak is black and its legs are dark-grey. The female is similar, but has a rather pale, whitish head and neck and lacks the black collar.
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The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is a Eurasian waterfowl that lives across Europe into southern Russia and China. It is called mute because it is not as vocal as other species of swans.
The Mute Swan is white with an orange or orange-yellow beak that is bordered with black. It has black legs.
Birds do not have teeth, but the swan has serrated edges that look like teeth. They are plates called lamellae. The lamellae are useful for sifting water for plants and algae, and also frogs, worms, snails and small fish.
It grows to 125-170 centimetres (49-67 inches) tall. It is the second largest waterfowl (the Trumpeter Swan is the largest), and it is one of the heaviest flying birds.