Do ducks really drown themselves?

[Chesterdog]

I hunted Banks lake out in Grand Coulee this weekend. We shot geese, ducks and a turkey (in GMU 133). It was a blast! One thing that came up was, what happens when a duck dives and never surfaces? I hit a drake mallard and obviously broke his wing, so he fluttered towards the middle of the pond and smacked the water hard about 40 yrds from shore. After 3 seconds he dove and never came up. We had eyes on him the whole time. It was a windless period in the day and the cove we were on was glassy. We never saw ripples anywhere. We inspected the shoreline. Nothing. Do they really bite down on reeds and drown? Has anyone really proved this behavior and spotted a duck in gin-clear water clinging on? We did see a huge catfish surface near where the mallard went down, but we figured it was eating feathers on the water and didn't gulp the duck. That would be crazy right? What have you guys heard about suicidal ducks?

[vandeman17]

I have seen it plenty of times and read they dive and spin themselves in the plant life on the bottom and end up drowning. Not sure what the point of it is or how its a survival instinct. I don't recall where I read it but its what I recall seeing somewhere

[linxx77]

I’ve seen this happen a few times. But there have been times I thought it happened and I notice a tiny speck out in the water. They can swim very fast submerged, even with a busted wing.


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[h2ofowlr]

This is common that they will dive down and latch onto something and not come back up.  A few times I have floated over them or walked in clear water and seen them latched on and grabbed them.  As mentioned, sometime they stay down for a bit to only have the top of the head barely showing and try to sneak off into the weeds to get away.

[KFhunter]

I don't think they do it on purpose, I think a couple things come into play

broken wing = they can't control it while underwater and can't untangle it or move it

shot = I think they go dizzy, loose consciousness while under, and don't swim back up


After they get shot they'll sometimes dive in and try to get some cover over them so an eagle can't scoop them out of the water,  eagles can reach in quite a ways so they dive and burrow themselves in the weeds, but with pellets or broken wings they can't get back out.   When an eagle sends them into the weeds there's no pellets or broken wings so they come back up later.  When they're shot out of the air I think they act the same as if it were an aerial predator after them and they dive and burrow depending on how far up the weeds are to the surface and depth of the weeds.   Most of my hunting I didn't have weeds deep enough like you coastal guys but did get into some milfoil areas where this could happen. 

anyways just my theory, I haven't waterfowled in years. 

[Russ McDonald]

When I was a kid in MN we hunted blue bills.  They are fast little mothers.  We hunted on a small lake maybe 1/4 mile across.  Plenty of weeds.  Also a great northern pike pond.  I have plenty of ducks go down and dive and never resurface.  I have been told that they do go down and gets in the weeds to hide or suicide who knows.  We do have a few bald eagles around so the eagle theory sounds good to.

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[Mfowl]

I have experienced my share of vanishing ducks. I had heard that they will dive and tangle in submerged weeds as well but can't say I have seen it for myself. I have seen wounded birds basically flying under water to escape. They can move quite quickly and go a long ways. As stated before they can almost fully submerge and skulk away with just their beak and a few feathers showing. They are impossible to sluese like that too.

[Stein]

I don't think they drown, but they can both stay underwater for an incredibly long time and cover a ridiculous amount of ground while under.  I had a mallard hen that covered probably 20 yards underwater and pop up in the bushes where I just happened to be looking.  The divers are even more adept.

I think a bunch of the "drownings" are ducks that either wait out the hunters or end up surfacing someplace out of sight.

[KFhunter]

I recall one drake I shot that went missing, the pond was only about hip deep and I knew it was down there somewhere   I scoured around for a long time thinking it was in the cattails, then finally about gave up.

As I was heading back to the blind wading through the middle of the pond I casually just tipped over a piece of wood floating on the surface with some grass growing out of it making about a 1 foot square little island kinda floating there.  There was the duck still alive under it,  I made a quick grab then had it. 

It had lodged itself under it and poked its beak up through the grassy stuff for air so it was easy to grab as it was trying to yank its beak back out and get to swimming. 

[Magnum_Willys]

Yes bluebills especially. But you may have to wait 20 minutes to be sure

[bigdub257]

Divers are the worst.  I hunt them alot on the Columbia.  If you wing one and there's a breath of wind on the water you'll never retrieve it.  They can swim an ungodly distance underwater and if/when they do surface it's for a split second and they're back down.  Many times they just disappear even when the water is smooth as glass (which isn't very often).

[eglseder]

I think that some of the times they will have just the tip of their beak sticking out and sneak away. But I have seen lots dive and never come back. In shallow water I try to go to the spot and drag my feet around to knock it loose...but I've never gotten a duck back from doing that.

[dilleytech]

I have seen ducks dive under ice and die. A couple times I have drove my boat out to winged goose just to have it dive and never seen it again. But birds will hit the surface and swim with only the very top of there head out of the water so it’s really hard to tell if maybe you just missed them. They will certainly swim to a near by bank and into a muskrat hole or something. Assuming you will just get a bird with your dog when they get to the bank can be a mistake.

[boneaddict]

I've shot em and I've lost em to this very thing, at least what I was told by the people who taught me how to duck hunt.

In the old days I did'nt have a retriever.  I retrieved my own.   I'd use my float tube.  Id go out and hover where they went down.  I dislodged more than one and they floated up and I was able to get them. They were dead.   

I've also hunted with a guy with a good dog who would dive and get them.   That was cool!

[vandeman17]

I've shot em and I've lost em to this very thing, at least what I was told by the people who taught me how to duck hunt.

In the old days I did'nt have a retriever.  I retrieved my own.   I'd use my float tube.  Id go out and hover where they went down.  I dislodged more than one and they floated up and I was able to get them. They were dead.   

I've also hunted with a guy with a good dog who would dive and get them.   That was cool!

I get a kick out of it when a duck dives in front of my dog and watching her swim a few circles until it pops back up. Then I am impressed when I see her go fully under and grab one and start swimming back. Haven't had her do that with a dead one yet but never know