What Do Ducks Eat?

Protein-rich aquatic creatures form a crucial part of duck diets:

• Aquatic insects and larvae
• Freshwater snails and mollusks
• Crayfish
• Small minnows
• Aquatic worms

These food sources are particularly important during breeding season but remain valuable year-round. Areas rich in invertebrates often provide consistent hunting opportunities, especially during morning and evening feeding periods.

Agricultural and natural seeds provide essential energy:

• Corn: A favorite among mallards and other puddle ducks
• Rice: Crucial in certain geographical areas
• Wheat: Both waste grain and newly sprouted
• Wild millet: Natural food source in wetland areas
• Native grass seeds: Important in natural settings

The best hunting opportunities often occur near the intersection of these food sources, where wetlands meet agricultural lands. Understanding this connection helps hunters position themselves between feeding and resting areas for maximum success.

Species like mallards, pintails, and wood ducks are the bread and butter of many hunters' seasons. These surface-feeding specialists:

• Feed primarily in water less than 18 inches deep
• Tip up, showing their distinctive tail-up posture
• Prefer seeds, aquatic plants, and shallow-water invertebrates
• Often venture into flooded fields and timber

Hunting Strategy:

• Set up in shallow waters, particularly flooded timber or agricultural fields
• Use feeding decoys (tipped-up position) in your spread
• Focus on areas with abundant surface vegetation
• Hunt early morning as birds return from overnight feeding in fields

Canvasbacks, redheads, and scaup represent a different hunting challenge. These deep-water specialists:

• Feed in waters up to 30 feet deep
• Target submerged aquatic vegetation and mollusks
• Stay closer to open water
• Move less frequently between feeding areas

Hunting Strategy:

• Use larger decoy spreads in open water
• Position yourself near deeper channels or basins
• Consider using diving duck decoys actively feeding

• Pay attention to wind direction for proper setup in open water

Species like eiders, scoters, and long-tailed ducks present unique opportunities for coastal hunters. These maritime specialists:

• Feed primarily on mollusks and crustaceans
• Prefer coastal waters and large lakes
• Often dive to significant depths for food
• Show strong site fidelity to productive feeding areas

Hunting Strategy:

• Hunt from points or islands near known shellfish beds
• Use specialized sea duck decoys
• Consider boat-based hunting setups
• Focus on tidal movements that expose food sources

Each species' feeding preference offers clues about where and when to find them. For example, knowing that mallards frequently feed in grain fields at night suggests setting up near their roosting waters at dawn. Similarly, understanding that diving ducks prefer deep-water areas with abundant mollusks helps narrow down productive hunting locations on large bodies of water.

As the landscape transforms through the seasons, ducks orchestrate their feeding patterns like musicians following nature's score. Each season brings its own menu, and successful hunters must dance to this changing rhythm.

When spring paints the wetlands with new life, ducks switch to nature's protein buffet:

• Female ducks waddle through shallow waters, snatching newly hatched insects
• Drakes guard their mates as they probe mudflats rich with invertebrates
• The marshes come alive with ducks dabbling in newly thawed waters
• Tender shoots of emerging vegetation provide vital nutrients

Hunting implications:

• Follow the insects' daily emergence patterns
• Target the shallow, sun-warmed backwaters where life first stirs
• Look for pairs feeding in secluded, vegetation-rich coves

As frost silences the marshes and ice claims the waters:

• Ducks gather in shrinking patches of open water like winter refugees
• The birds' breath steams in the cold air as they frantically feed
• Agricultural fields become vital lifelines, offering energy-rich waste grain
• Dawn and dusk see desperate feeding frenzies as birds stock up for long, cold nights

Hunting strategies:

• Find the remaining open water near feeding grounds
• Watch for birds trading between roosting and feeding areas
• Focus on protected pockets where warm springs keep water flowing
• Look for steam rising from open water on frigid mornings

During migration, the sky becomes a highway and every stopover a crucial refueling station:

• Flocks spiral down from high altitude, drawn to traditional feeding grounds
• Birds gather in staging areas like travelers at an airport
• Feeding becomes more urgent, with longer sessions and larger gatherings
• Ancient pathways between food sources become busy flight lanes

Key hunting considerations:

• Watch for northern winds that push new birds south
• Scout the historical rest stops along ancestral flyways
• Note how weather fronts concentrate birds in traditional feeding areas
• Pay attention to the seasonal progression of crop harvests

Success comes to those who read these natural signs like an ancient text, understanding that each season writes its own chapter in the story of waterfowl behavior. The hunter who aligns with these natural rhythms finds not just ducks, but a deeper connection to the ancient patterns that guide them.

Success in duck hunting is ultimately about understanding the intricate dance between waterfowl and their food sources. Like pieces of an ancient puzzle, each element we've explored – from natural feeding patterns to seasonal shifts – fits together to create a complete picture of duck behavior.