Busy Lizzy's Aquatic Birds

My Favorite Ducks 

The Wood Duck

Wood Ducks are dabbling ducks and fun to watch. This colorful bird will search for food near the water’s edge. When they spot something tasty, their heads go down and their tails up. It’s quick and efficient but comical to watch.

The Northern Pintail

The Northern Pintails are diligent parents. The female will protect her brood by flying at an intruder, or by pretending to be injured and leading the predator away. I love to watch a family group in the pond close to our house. They spend the entire...

The Mallard Duck

The green head, yellow bill, and black rump of the Mallard Duck is a familiar sight for many people living in the Northern hemisphere. Nearly 10 million Mallards live in North America with millions more in Eurasia. It is thought to be the most abunda...

The Common Loon 

Minnesota's State Bird

The Common Loon

The Common Loon or the Great Northern Diver is often called the "Symbol of the North." They are reported to be among the oldest groups of birds still living today, with a history stretching back close to 50 million years. The Loon is silent...

An Afternoon at the Beach 

The Snowy Egret

Snowy Egrets are the beautiful birds that inhabit marshes, swamps, ponds, lakes, and shallow coastal areas and tidal flats. In the 19th and early 20th century, they were hunted to near extinction for their beautiful white feathers.

The Brown Pelican

The Brown Pelican is a large, stocky bird with a twelve inch bill and trademark throat pouch. Although it is considered a large bird, it is the smallest of the eight species of pelicans found in the world today. It is a coastal bird with two subspeci...

Sanderlings

Sanderlings are the most widespread of all the shorebirds. They are often seen on beaches scurrying after waves as they roll back to the sea. They are looking for crustaceans and mollusks exposed by the retreating water.

The American White Ibis

The White Ibis is a wader. It can be seen along the shore, up to its knees in water, sweeping its head from side-to-side in search of food. Its long, curved bill is handy for probing the mud while searching for crabs and crayfish. This efficient hunt...

The American Flamingo 

The American Flamingo

The American Flamingo is also known as the Caribbean Flamingo. It is one of the larger flamingos and is closely related to the Greater Flamingo. The Flamingo's pink to red color is due to a chemical carotinoid. Carotinoid is a chemical found in t...

John James Audubon 

John James Audubon (1785-1851)

Since his death in 1851 John James Audubon's name has become synonymous with wildlife conservation and natural history. Audubon had a talent for drawing and an interest in birds. He spent thirty-five years wandering around his adopted country cap...