Trivia question for May-07-2011

Olivia was not sure about featuring this duck because at first she though it would be hard to find trivia questions that everyone already knows. After doing her research, she was able to find a few questions which we think are worthy of the trivia. Let’s see what you think:

These guys are skilled divers that can sink beneath the water surface like a stone and rise again like a cork. They nest in dense marsh vegetation near water. The female builds her nest out of grass, locating it in tall vegetation to hide it from predators. A typical group of young ranges from 5-15 ducklings.

So here are Olivia’s questions: Tell us what kind of duck this is and also tell us what happened in Europe which allowed this (non-European) species to now call Europe home. Also, their ability to readily adapt to most any condition, is now forcing another duck species in Spain to soon be extinct. Tell us what that species specific to Spain is?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Hanna from Mildred Elementary School for being the first with the correct answer. The duck we featured is the Ruddy Duck.  The Ruddy Duck is a small stiff-tailed duck.

As a result of escapes from wildfowl collections, they are now established in Great Britain, from where they have spread widely into Europe. This duck’s aggressive courting behavior and willingness to interbreed with the endangered native White-headed Duck, of southern Spain/Europe has caused some concern.

Due to this, there is now a controversial scheme to extirpate the Ruddy Duck as a British breeding species.  Here is more on these thriving ducks: Ruddy Duck

Thanks for playing along 😉