We have a timely contribution, and a bit of duck-related drama in New Jersey, from Jan Malik, whose captions and story are indented below. (The duck was, in the end, unharmed.) You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Here is a short series of pictures from Barnegat Light that I took about twelve years ago. I was sitting on the rock jetty one February day, scanning for any passing seabirds, when something in the corner of my eye caught my attention: a commotion farther out in the inlet channel. A duck was being attacked by a large gull.
Trigger warning and spoiler alert: the gull went hungry— the duck escaped that morning.
The prey: Long‑tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis)
This isn’t the actual bird that was attacked; I think I photographed this one later that day. But like the victim, it was probably an immature male. Long‑tailed Ducks form large flocks outside the breeding season, wintering offshore from the Arctic Ocean, Norway, Greenland, and Canada, and reaching New Jersey when the weather turns especially cold. Unfortunately, their IUCN status is Vulnerable, and based on my very unscientific observations over twenty years of winter trips to the Jersey shore, their numbers seem to be declining.
The drama begins: the duck is caught by a Great Black‑backed Gull (Larus marinus).
These gulls—the largest species in the family Laridae—are powerful scavengers and opportunistic predators. I don’t see them often at Barnegat Light or other exposed coastal areas; they seem to prefer city dumps and places with more edible refuse than the clean, wind‑swept inlet.
Each bird pulls in a different direction. The duck tries to dive, while the gull attempts to lift its prey and carry it to land, where it can kill it properly by violent shaking.
Given the size difference, the duck can’t fight back All it can do is try to slip free:
A second gull arrives The possibility of a meal attracts another gull, which immediately tries to steal the catch. This actually helps the duck—when raptors (if we can stretch the term to include gulls) quarrel over prey, they often drop it:
The gull’s grip is weak. Here it’s clear that not all is lost for the duck. The gull’s smooth, non‑serrated bill has only a tenuous hold on the duck’s feathers, and it’s far from securing a proper grip:
The gull’s feet offer no help. Like other gulls, Great Black‑backed Gulls have webbed feet built for paddling, not grasping. Their only real weapon is the bill, and in this case it wasn’t placed well enough to subdue the duck:
The hunt ends unsuccessfully. The duck breaks free and immediately dives. Long‑tailed Ducks can dive 100–200 feet (30–60 m) and swim underwater using both their feet and wings, much like penguins:
Another Long‑tailed Duck in flight. I include this photo to show why the species is called “long‑tailed,” although this individual doesn’t have the longest tail I’ve seen. These ducks were once called “Oldsquaw” in the United States and “Old Wife” in parts of England, but in the early 2000s the name was changed because it was considered offensive. I agree with the change, though I sometimes wonder whether it marked the beginning of the slippery slope that later led to Audubon being “canceled” and many other biological names being flagged as candidates for revision.
JAC: All’s well that ends well.
Oooh, good action photos and drama.
It never occurred to me that a gull would try to eat a duck. I learned something today.
Great documentation of the escape of the duck. I’m relieved he made it.
You captured every detail of the escapade.
I love the photo where the gull has a weak grip on the duck.
I got myself all worked up here!
Great story. Thanks!
Excellent images and narrative. I was inspired to do a “deep dive” with videos of ducks doing -er- excursions to great depths for mollusks and other noms.
All’s well that ends well! Lucky duck!
Yes, it ended well for the duck. But not so well for the seagull!
Why do we always want the predator to lose the battle of predator v. prey? One obvious reason is that the only thing the predator has at stake is his lunch, while what the prey has at stake is his life. But alas, we know that if the prey always won, their predators would always starve.
It’s win-lose. You-know-who sure effed up when he created animals that have to eat other animals to survive, when it would have been a cinch for him to make every animal a vegan instead.
I was especially pleased because the prey was a DUCK! And suffering looks worse to us that a missed predation attempt, though if the latter persisted, we’d see suffering through starvation.
Your story was gripping! But, as you wrote, not the gull’s bill. It’s curious that gulls haven’t evolved a grippier bill, given that so much of their prey is slippery and slimy seafood.
Very cool images. Never seen a gull picking up a duck like that. Gulls are badass!
I have recently visited that area. Really good for waterbird photography.