What Duck Breeds Are There? A Detailed Explanation of the Function of a Duck's Tail

The duck is a vertebrate animal, and there are domestic ducks and wild ducks; the domestic duck was domesticated from the wild mallard and the spot-billed duck. Wild ducks are somewhat smaller in size, with relatively short necks, and are very strong divers that can swim happily in the water. As for domestic ducks, they are larger in size and mainly live on land; they can also stay in the water for a period of time, but not too long. Let's take a detailed look below at what duck breeds there are and what function the tail has.

1. What duck breeds are there?

1. Gaoyou Duck

The Gaoyou Duck, also known as the Gaoyou Shelduck, is one of the three famous ducks nationwide. It is an excellent local dual-purpose breed for both eggs and meat, produced in Gaoyou, Jiangsu Province.

The Gaoyou Duck is relatively good at diving, has strong adaptability, tolerates coarse feed, grows quickly, and lays large eggs of relatively good quality, making it highly favored by farmers. The Gaoyou Duck's fondness for producing double-yolked and even triple-yolked eggs is well known to friends at home and abroad.

2. Beijing Duck

The Beijing Duck has a history of more than four hundred years and is also a national geographical indication agricultural product, as well as a duck breed unique to Beijing. The Beijing Duck is a meat-type duck breed, with pure white feathers tinged slightly with yellow, a very full and plump body, a prominent chest, and a tail that turns slightly upward.

3. Youxian Shelduck

The Youxian Shelduck is a typical egg-laying duck, produced in the area along the Mishui and Shasha River basins within Youxian, Hunan Province. The ducks and duck eggs here are sold far away to many cities, such as Taiwan, China, Shanghai, Guizhou, Guangdong, and other places.

The whole body of the Youxian Shelduck has feathers in alternating yellow-brown and black, forming a mottled color, hence the name shelduck. It has the advantages of small size, fast growth, early maturity, and high egg production, and is an egg-duck breed suited to grazing and raising in rice fields.

4. Shaoxing Duck

The Shaoxing Duck is a duck breed with a very high egg-laying rate. It is mainly produced in Shaoxing, Xiaoshan, Zhuji, and other counties under the old Shaoxing Prefecture of Zhejiang, and is famous nationwide. The Shaoxing Duck is very small in size and has the breeding advantages of eating little and laying many eggs.

5. Chaohu Duck

The Chaohu Duck is a shelduck breed used for both eggs and meat. This duck has a medium build and a well-proportioned body, and features field grazing, strong foraging ability, wide adaptability, tolerance of coarse feed, deep diving, and strong disease resistance.

2. What function does a duck's tail have?

1. Maintaining body balance

A duck walks with a waddling motion, and its tail swings along with it, mainly to maintain body balance.

2. Helping it float on the water surface

A duck can swim easily in the water, and its tail plays a major supporting role. At the rear of the duck there is a relatively large fat gland that secretes oil. The duck spreads the oil onto its thick feathers by rubbing with its beak, so that when the duck swims in the water its feathers do not get soaked with water and retain a certain amount of air.

3. Controlling direction

When a duck swims, its tail controls direction just like a ship's rudder.