Duck pond

Duck pond
A duck pond in the Queen Elizabeth Park

A duck pond is a pond for ducks and other water fowl. Duck ponds provide habitats for water fowl and other birds, who use the water to bathe in and drink.

Typically, such ponds are round, oval or kidney-shaped. An example is the lily pond in the University Parks at Oxford in England, constructed in 1925. Often, as in public parks, such ponds are artificial and ornamental in design. Sometimes they may be less ornamental, as for example in a farmyard or flooded quarry. A small domestic version of the duck pond is at Knowle Farm in Derbyshire.[1]

Some duck ponds are purposely built for the sport of duck hunting. These flight ponds are constructed by hunters and wildfowlers to attract ducks, such as mallard, teal, bufflehead and widgeon, at dawn and at dusk. The ponds have shallow edges to allow ducks to reach food on the bottom. Barley is often used to attract or hold the birds.

Contents

Duck houses

A duck house, duck canopy, or duck island, is an often floating structure that ducks can climb onto and into, offering protection from predators such as foxes. Some are simple wooden shelters on land, while others are on islands in duck ponds or lakes; they can be quite ornate and/or large structures. A rather famous example can be found at Woodway House in Devon. A small domestic version of a duck house is at Knowle Farm in Derbyshire.[2] Such houses are also used for the birds to nest in a safe and convenient area. Dummy eggs, originally ceramic and now plastic, are used to encourage birds to lay in the duck house.

Installation and maintenance

They must be cleaned out about every month to prevent the unwanted and rather smelly build up of any fecal matter (guano) that is gradually left behind by the birds using it. They may also be prone to flooding during a storm, if they are not raised adequately off the ground.

Media reference

Duck islands came to public prominence in the United Kingdom in May 2009, when a Member of Parliament claimed expenses to have one installed on his property. Sir Peter Viggers chose to stand down as an MP after he was shown to have attempted to pay for his duck island at the UK Parliament's expense.[3]

See also

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • duck-pond — duckˈ pond noun • • • Main Entry: ↑duck …   Useful english dictionary

  • Duck Pond Run — Map of Duck Pond Run Origin …   Wikipedia

  • Duck Pond B&B Cottage — (Leamington,Канада) Категория отеля: Адрес: 901 Mersea Road 7, N8H 3V8 Leamin …   Каталог отелей

  • Long Duck Pond — Infobox lake lake name = Long Duck Pond image lake = caption lake = image bathymetry = caption bathymetry= location = Plymouth, Massachusetts coords = coord|41|49|20|N|70|35|33|W|type:waterbody region:US source:gnis|display=inline,title type =… …   Wikipedia

  • pond — [ pand ] noun count ** 1. ) an area of water similar to a lake but smaller: a duck pond 2. ) the pond INFORMAL the Atlantic Ocean: His work s not very well known on this side of the pond …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • pond — [n] small body of water basin, dew, duck pond, lagoon, lily pond, millpond, pool, puddle, small lake, splash; concept 514 …   New thesaurus

  • Pond — A pond is a body of water smaller than a lake, both being examples of terrain features. Although the term pond is universally used to describe waterbodies that are smaller than lakes, an internationally recognised size cutoff has not yet been… …   Wikipedia

  • Duck crossing — Sign for a duck crossing on the road between two ponds fronting Lakeview Regional Medical Center south of Covington in Saint Tammany Parish, Louisiana A duck crossing is either a designated place for ducks to cross a road or an informal route… …   Wikipedia

  • pond — [[t]pɒ̱nd[/t]] ponds N COUNT: oft n N A pond is a small area of water that is smaller than a lake. Ponds are often made artificially. She chose a bench beside the duck pond and sat down. ...a garden pond. Syn: pool …   English dictionary

  • pond — noun (C) 1 a small area of still water, especially one that has been artificially made: a duck pond 2 across the pond/on the other side of the pond informal on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean in the US or in Britain …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”