This geocache is part of our wildlife series identifying the wild animals of Potter County, PA. This series is located on Pennsylvania State Gamelands #204 located in Clara and Hebron Townships. All caches are located near roads or trails on the gamelands.
This cache is a regular-sized ammo can.
The two major duck groups, puddle and diving ducks, differ in several ways. Divers inhabit large deep lakes and rivers, and coastal bays and inlets; puddle ducks tend to stick to the shallows of lakes, rivers and freshwater marshes, although they frequent saltwater, especially during migration. Diving ducks are, as their name implies, adept at diving and obtain most of their food this way. Puddle ducks prefer to feed on the surface or close to it; often they stretch their heads underwater, feeding upended with their tails in the air. As a group, they are not accomplished divers, but adults dive occasionally and ducklings do so frequently. Puddle ducks feed in the water along the fringes of islands and shorelines and on dry land. Their diet consists mainly of vegetable matter — seeds, grasses, leaves and stems of underwater plants, agricultural crops and nuts — along with mollusks, insects and fish.
Within the species, males (called drakes) have bright, colorful plumage, while the females (hens) are drab. In fall, winter and spring, drakes are feathered in their normal bright coloration; in early summer, after breeding season, they molt into a drab “eclipse” plumage and resemble the hens for several months. North American puddle ducks breed across the northern part of the continent; some species — mallards, black and wood ducks — nest in Pennsylvania. In autumn puddle ducks fly south, along with diving ducks and geese. Waterfowl start migrating through Pennsylvania in late August; the movement peaks in October and ends in December. Some puddle ducks occasionally winter in Pennsylvania, but most spend the cold months across the southern United States and in Central America.
Diving ducks eat seeds and other parts of aquatic plants, fish, insects, mollusks, crustaceans and other invertebrates. They dive underwater to obtain much of their food. They have large broad feet, fully webbed and with strongly lobed hind toes, that act as paddles. Their legs are spaced widely apart and located well back on the body, improving diving efficiency but limiting agility on land. Their bodies are compact, and their wings have relatively small surface areas; noticeably more narrow than puddle ducks. While this arrangement helps their diving and swimming, it hinders their ability to become airborne. Instead of springing straight out of the water into flight, as puddle ducks are able to do, diving ducks must run across the water to build up speed before taking off.
Diving ducks, puddle ducks, geese and swans begin migrating north through Pennsylvania in late February. Each year there is a peak in migration, when wetlands across the state are crowded with waterfowl. While this period varies from year to year, it often follows heavy nighttime rains in March to early April.
Diving ducks nest in New England, Canada, Midwestern and prairie states, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Several species inhabit both the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Two species of mergansers, common and hooded (which, though taxonomically distinct from other diving ducks, are usually grouped with them due to similar ecology) breed in Pennsylvania.
Although variable among species, diving ducks are generally less likely than dabbling ducks to breed at one year of age; divers typically breed for the first time when 2 to 3 years old. Beginning in winter and before heading north, and into spring, males in their brightly-colored breeding plumage vie for females. Courtship may include ritualized drinking and preening movements, posturing and calling. Copulation takes place in the water. Males and females form monogamous pairs that last until the female begins incubating eggs; then, the male leaves the area and usually joins a band of other males.
Nesting habits and habitats vary from species to species. Generally, female diving ducks lay 5 to 15 eggs in vegetation, tree cavities, or rock crevices over or near the water. Because females do not start incubating a clutch until they lay their last egg, young develop simultaneously and all hatch at about the same time.
Ducklings are covered with down, patterned with shades of yellow or brown to break up their body outlines. Their eyes are open, and they can swim and feed themselves soon after hatching. The group, called a brood, remains together until the ducklings can fly, usually 8 to 10 weeks after hatching.
Adults undergo a post-breeding molt, growing a new set of feathers. Males molt first; in all species, the male’s bright nuptial plumage is replaced by drabber, less-conspicuous feathering. While their flight feathers are growing, ducks cannot fly; they keep quiet and stay hidden during this period of vulnerability.
Ducks are preyed upon by raccoons, foxes, mink, hawks and owls; young are also taken by snapping turtles and predatory fish. Crows, raccoons and skunks eat the eggs.
In Pennsylvania, the fall migration of waterfowl begins in late August, peaks in October through November, and ends in late December to early January. Some ducks winter in our state, but most go farther south. Diving ducks winter along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, across the southern states and in Mexico and Central America.
Habitat is of prime importance to ducks. Wetlands originally covered some 127 million acres in the U.S., but today more than half of those acres have been drained and converted to farmland, or developed for housing and industry. Drought periodically dries up parts of remaining wetlands, affecting duck reproduction. Ducks are vulnerable to oil spills on coastlines where they winter or breed. Pollution such as siltation, herbicides, pesticides, heavy metals and other industrial contaminants also harm them, either through direct toxicity, accumulation through the food chain, or by killing important food plants or animals.
The Prairie pothole region or “duck factory” in North and South Dakota and the Canadian prairie provinces—Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta—forms the single largest breeding habitat for many duck species. Alaskan and Canadian arctic wetlands are also crucial to geese, swans and ducks. Pennsylvania’s southern coastal states form important wintering grounds