One of my favorite subjects, Dan, DUCKS!

We live on a lake with Muscovy and Black-Bellied Whistling ducks and the occasional Mallard. They are my delight.

We feed them cracked corn every morning and, in the winter, at dusk. Being in Florida and being that they are wild, we don't provide shelter but they have plenty of natural shelter around the lake.

The whistlers hang around all day on cold days. The Muscovies eat and leave.

The whistlers are easily spooked. Although we've been feeding them for 3 years, they still act as if a bucket of corn in my hand is a giant ax and many fly away until the corn is distributed and I leave the area.

The Muscovies are braver and more sociable with humans. The ones that are mostly black come up to my feet and would eat from my hand if I allowed it. The others that are more white, black, and red are less trusting but still come near and don't fly away in fear as the whistlers do.

I almost never see whistler ducklings but the Muscovies bring their babies to meet us. The largest family of ducklings I’ve see had 6.