Report+of+Information+-316

Task: Students will work in pairs choosing a waterfowl to write about, they will develop questions and research answers using the Internet.

Great Blue Heron

What of the Great Blue Heron's Characteristics?

The Great Blue Heron's are the largest parents that can be found in North America. When standing, they can be approximately 16 cm tall. They also have a wingspan that ranges from about 97 237 cm, and can weigh from 2.1 to 2.5 kg. Great Blue Heron's have short tails, long necks, legs and wings, as well as a long bill that tapers to a point at the end. The bill of a Great Blue Heron has a yellowish color and their legs or green. They are necks are often curved in an “S” during both the rest and flight. And the funny thing is a Great Blue Heron's are not actually blue. They have grey upper bodies and their necks our streaked with a combination of black, white and rust brown. Also, the back of their necks have gray feathers on them and they are advise have feathers of a chestnut color. The males have a puffy plume of feathers behind their heads and are often slightly larger than the females.

Where can we find a Great Blue Heron's and why?

The Great Blue Heron's and can be found in several regions. Although the Great Blue Heron lives near bodies of water such as along rivers, lakes and saltwater sea coasts and in marshes and swamps they often avoid marine habitats along the East Coast. This habitat is important for their survival because the Great Blue Heron's diet mainly consists of fish. Their diet also includes frogs, salamanders, lizards, snakes, birds, small mammals, shrimp, crabs, crayfish, dragonflies, grasshoppers, and many other aquatic insects. Great Blue Heron's locate their food by sight and usually swallow it whole.

When and where do they breed?

Great Blue Heron's breed throughout North and Central America, and the Caribbean, they nest in colonies up in trees or large bushes that stand near water. Within these rookeries, Great Blue Heron's are extremely territorial and aggressively defend their nests. They breed once per year from the month of March through May in the northern parts of the range and from November through April in the southern parts of their range. They can lay from 2 to 7 eggs per season, with birds living further north tending to lay more eggs. Both parents take turns incubating eggs and then, once the eggs are hatched, both parents care for and feed the chicks. Great blue heron chicks take from 60 to 82 days for it to fledge.

We chose the great blue hair and because it looks calm floating in the water because a beautiful and vibrant. Victor and Brandon

Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)

What is the Mute Swan’s real name and how did they get their name?

The mute swans real name is Cygnus olor -- it's a species of Swan. It is a member of the dock, goose and swan family the name “mute” is because it's less vocal than the other swan species, though it is not always silent.

How to Mute Swans build their nests?

Mute Swan’s nest on large mounds that they build with waterside vegetation in shallow water on islands in the middle or at the very edge of a lake. They are monogamous and often reused the same nest each year, restoring or rebuilding it. Male and female swans share the care of the nest, and once their babies grow they work with their parents searching for food they work as a team.

Where does the Mute Swan look for food and what do they eat?

They feed on a wide range of vegetation both in the water, which they reach with their longnecks, and by grazing on land. The food commonly includes agricultural crop plants such as oil seed rape and wheat, and feeding flocks. In the winter when the whole family feeds they can cause significant crop damage, because of their large webbed feet.

Do Mute Swans travel and flocks?

Mute swans are very territorial on small lakes you may find a pair, but on larger lakes where there is lots of food you can find a colony. Young mute swans 3 to 4 years old also commonly form larger flocks, which can total several hundred birds.

Are Mute Swans vocal?

The mute swan is less vocal than other swans. But most familiar sounds you will each year is the vibrating throbbing of the wings in flight once this bird has taken walks from the water. This sound is unique and can be heard from a range of 1 to 2 km. They do however make a variety of grunting, hoarse whistling, and snorting noises, especially in communicating with their family and usually hits at predators trying to enter their territory.

What are the Mute swan its characteristics?

The familiar pose with the neck curved back and wings half raised, known as busking, is a threat display, mainly shown by males but also females to a small extent. Black swans and will per swans are less aggressive and are not as defensive against predators. Trumpeter swans will sometimes leave their nests it threatened. Mute swans will attack land animals in defense of their families, during the period before fledging of their offspring (which at six months is larger than most of other birds). They are protective of their family.

We chose to move the mute swan because of its strong family values and a state with one mate.

Ashley and Lorena



Wood Duck

What are the characteristics of a Wood Duck?

The Wood Duck uses a family Aix sponsa. This family is made of ducks and duck like waterfowl. The members of this family look-alike they have webbed feet, flattened bills, and feathers with special oils to prevent the water absorption. The male and female look very different, the male Wood Duck is very colorful with an iridescent green and purple crest on its head and a red eye. It's a body is also iridescent. It has a white patch on its neck, a brown chest, a green colored back, and pale tan sides. The female would dock is much plainer with the gray colored slides the face is a greenish black. The female also has a white eye patch. Similar to the male, the female Wood Duck has a crest. However, the females crest is much duller. We can you find a Wood Duck ? The Wood duck is commonly found in wooded wetlands and ponds as well as freshwater marshes. In the East, it breeds from southern Canada through the United States and into Cuba. The Wood Duck also breeds along the Pacific coast from southern British Columbia to Southern California. The Wood Duck winters in the United States. Populations can be found in the East Coast, West Coast and Southwest. What does a Wood Duck eat? The Wood Duck eats a variety of foods including seeds, fruits, and invertebrates. The Wood Duck is a perching duck. It usually looks for food floating on the water’s surface. But it will “dabble”, the behavior in which a duck tips forward so that its whole head and chest go under the water in search of food. Finally, Wood Ducks also dive completely underwater, especially when chasing falling acorns that are slowly sinking below them. Are Wood Duck's territorial?

Young Wood Ducks will escape predators by diving. The Wood Duck is not territorial, but in the breeding season a male will defend his mate from other Wood Ducks. These ducks have many predators. Rat snakes, woodpeckers, raccoons, and mink often prey upon eggs while raccoons, gray fox, and great horned owl prey on adults. If the mother with her brood detects a predator, the mother will fake a broken wing while the young find cover.

When do Wood Ducks mate?

Wood Ducks for mating pairs in January and consequently when they arrive at their breeding grounds the pairs are already created. The female duck will make its nest by lining preformed tree cavities or an artificial Wood Duck boxes with her down. Each year a female Wood Duck will have two broods with an arid each of 6 to 15 eggs in each. The nests are usually created around water so that when the day old young leave the nest they will land in the water, but if they decide to create the nest further will way the young ducks must hop to their mothers. Wood Duck young can survive falls from up to 290 feet when they leave the nest. The female Wood Duck will remain with her brood until the ducklings can fly. We chose a Wood Duck because the male has beautiful colors and looks very different than the family allowing others to tell males from females.

Ian and Sam



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