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ANIMALS ARE NOT OURS

to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or
abuse in any other way.

Learn About Ducks and

How to Take Action for
Them in One ‘Fowl’ Swoop
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Ducks are intelligent, feeling individuals who love

spending their time relaxing on the water or foraging
for food. But many of them don’t have the opportunity
to live the way they want because humans torment
and kill them for their flesh or feathers. Take a moment
to learn more about these remarkable animals, and
take a stand for ducks by refusing to eat them or
purchase products made with their feathers.

Here are 10 facts that will help you

get to know these feathered
friends:
1. Ducks are well adapted for water,
land, and air activities.
These gifted swimmers have waterproof feathers,
which have a waxy coating that protects an inner layer
of down, to keep them warm and dry. They can swim
in cold water without catching a chill because their
feet have blood vessels that are close together so
they don’t lose heat. Some duck species can dive up
to 240 feet below the water, and others can fly as high
as 21,000 feet in the air (although most migrate at
heights of 200 to 4,000 feet). They can also fly long
distances, and they use wind to help them reach
speeds of up to 60 mph.

2. Ducklings are loving siblings and

communicate with each other before
hatching.
Ducklings coordinate hatching by communicating with
each other while they’re still in their eggs. Hatching at
the same time is important, because sticking together
as a group helps protect them from predators. After
hatching, they swim and walk together, following close
behind their mothers. Even as adults, ducks prefer to
be in a group, which brings us to our next fact …

3. They are super-social animals!

Ducks are most comfortable when living with other
ducks in their natural environment. When on the water,
they congregate in groups called “paddlings,” which
helps protect them from predators. In these groups,
they are free to spend their days foraging for food and
sleeping soundly, knowing their friends will warn them
of any danger.

4. Ducks have regional accents.

Regional accents are just another example of ducks’
ability to adapt to their environment. Middlesex Uni-
versity researcher Dr. Victoria de Rijke recorded the
sounds of ducks in the heart of London and compared
them with those of ducks living in the countryside. She
found that the ducks in London had a louder, rougher
quack, because they had to shout above the noise of
city life. The ducks in the country “made longer and
more relaxed sounds.” Dr. de Rijke even noted how
similar their sounds were to those of humans living in
the same area.

5. Female ducks pick their favorite male

ducks to mate with based on dancing
ability.
When mating season rolls around, a male duck will
perform complicated displays to win a chance to mate
with a female. She gets to choose her favorite based
on this performance and the attractiveness of his
feathers. Duck mating can be a violent experience for
the female, so it’s important that she be able to
choose her mate. At Culver Duck Farms in Indiana, a
whistleblower told PETA that he had found so many
males crowded together with females that the females
were “gang raped,” and their bodies were left bloody,
swollen, and injured. In their natural environment,
female ducks have the power of choice—that power
was taken from them at Culver.

6. Free from human intervention, some

ducks can live up to 20 years.
When ducks are used for meat or down, workers kill
them when they’re very young, sometimes even
before they’re a year old. At Culver, the only certified
“humane” duck farm in the U.S., a whistleblower said
that workers threw ducklings into a grinder while they
were still chirping.

7. Ducks have better vision than you do.

The shape of ducks’ eyes allows them to see things
near and far simultaneously and in sharp focus. And
since their eyes are located on either side of their
head, they are able to see almost 340 degrees
around. They can also move each eye independently
and sleep with one eye open to watch for predators.
In a group, ducks will trade off keeping an eye open to
help protect the rest of the group from danger while
they sleep.

8. Duck bills are as sensitive as human

fingertips and palms.
Duck bills have touch receptors similar to those in
human fingertips and palms, which helps them look for
food in murky water. A broken bill can cause
excruciating pain, a reality for many ducks who are
used in the foie gras industry, where workers ram
metal pipes down their throats and force-feed them
until their livers swell to up to 10 times their normal
size.

9. They are meticulously clean animals.

When you watch a duck for any length of time, you’re
sure to see them preening their feathers to keep them
perfectly clean. Ducks also like to keep their nests free
of waste and debris, which can become an issue when
dangerous fishing gear ends up in their waterways or
homes. Ducks can be seriously injured or killed by
swallowing fishing hooks or getting tangled in
discarded lines—yet another reason why fishing kills.

10. They are capable of abstract

thinking and have deep emotional lives.
Ducklings can tell the difference between objects
based on their color or shape, demonstrating abstract
thought capabilities. They also show affection for their
siblings, mothers, and paddling-mates and, like all
animals, are capable of feeling pain.

*****

How Can You Help Ducks?

As long as humans continue to use ducks for their
flesh, feathers, and eggs, these animals will continue
to suffer. Going vegan and choosing down-free materi-
als are great first steps. After PETA’s 2016
investigation, Harris Teeter dropped Culver as a
supplier. With whistleblower footage released in 2022,
we’re asking other grocers, including Sprouts Farmers
Market, to reconsider their relationships with Culver,
too.

URGE GROCERS:
RECONSIDER
SELLING CULVER
DUCK MEAT!

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Ingrid E. Newkirk

“Almost all of us grew up eating meat, wearing

leather, and going to circuses and zoos. We never
considered the impact of these actions on the
animals involved. For whatever reason, you are now
asking the question: Why should animals have
rights?” READ MORE

— Ingrid E. Newkirk, PETA President and co-

author of Animalkind

READ MORE

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The Hidden Lives of Ducks and Geese
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