What do Wood Ducks eat when there are no acorns?

[Pioneerfreq]

Not sure exactly but they eat a lot of it!

20220919_211526_resized - Copy.jpg

[johnjyb]

Wild rice maybe???
John

[finsfurfeathers]

during early goose had a flock of about 20 land in the barley stubble field.

[Pioneerfreq]

BTW, the wood duck from whence came the crop contents was shot late in the day on a beaver pond so I'm assuming the contents are all aquatic plant seeds of some sort. I guess I could plant some but I'd be afraid of growing anything with those damn hitch hikers that get caught in your dog's fur. Still floors me that they can process whole acorns in the shell!

[longpointer]

Most ducks (waterfowl) have a variety of foods that make up their overall diet but when there's plenty of something ( corn/barley/buckwheat/millet etc. ) they will stuff themselves silly . Woodies prefer Pin Oak acorns but as I said they will eat just about anything much like any duck be it aquatic plants/bugs bloodsuckers.

[CorporalK]

Wild Rice and Cornnnn

[Fenelon]

I'm thinking that pic of the crop contents is seeds from Sparganium (bur-reed). Take a full seed head and pick it apart and that's the shape of the individual nutlets. There are several species in our area.

[Pioneerfreq]

I'm thinking that pic of the crop contents is seeds from Sparganium (bur-reed). Take a full seed head and pick it apart and that's the shape of the individual nutlets. There are several species in our area.

I'll bet you're right. I have seen bur-reed there for sure. There are some round seeds too. It's fascinating. I always check out the crops and/or gizzards of ducks, grouse and wild turkey. Found a round white plastic pellet in a turkey's crop once about half the diameter of a pea. I'm thinking probably an air-soft pellet. The stones in their gizzards are really cool too especially a little further north. Little pieces of white quartz and pink granite, like little gems.