A duck pond or duckpond is a

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

for

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

s and other

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which i ...

. Duck ponds provide

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s for waterfowl and other birds, who use the water to bathe in and drink. Often, as in

public parks A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

, such ponds are artificial and ornamental in design; an example is the lily pond in the

University Parks The Oxford University Parks, commonly referred to locally as the University Parks, or just The Parks, is a large parkland area slightly northeast of the city centre in Oxford, England. The park is bounded to the east by the River Cherwell, tho ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

in England, constructed in 1925. Sometimes they may be less ornamental, as for example in a farmyard. Some duck ponds are purposely built for

duck hunting Waterfowl hunting is the practice of hunting aquatic birds such as ducks, geese and other waterfowls or shorebirds for sport and meat. Waterfowl are hunted in crop fields where they feed, or in areas with bodies of water such as rivers, lakes ...

. These flight ponds are constructed by hunters and wildfowlers to attract ducks, such as

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

teals Teal is a blue-green color . Teal or TEAL may also refer to: Ducks * some members of the subfamily Anatinae (dabbling ducks): ** some members of the genus ''Anas'': *** Cape teal (''Anas capensis'') *** Red-billed teal or red-billed duck (''Anas ...

bufflehead The bufflehead (''Bucephala albeola'') is a small sea duck of the genus ''Bucephala'', the goldeneyes. It breeds in Alaska and Canada and migrates in winter to southern North America. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his lan ...

and

wigeon The wigeons or widgeons are a group of birds, dabbling ducks currently classified in the genus ''Mareca'' along with two other species. There are three extant species of wigeon, in addition to one recently extinct species. Biology There are ...

, at dawn and at dusk. The ponds have shallow edges to allow ducks to reach food on the bottom. Barley is often used to attract or hold the birds.

Duck houses

A duck house, duck canopy, or duck island, is an often floating structure onto or into which ducks can climb, offering protection from predators such as foxes. Some are simple wooden shelters on land, while others are on islands in duck ponds or lakes; they can be quite ornate and/or large structures. A well-known example can be found at

Woodway House Woodway House is in Teignmouth, South Devon, England. It was at one time a farm on lands held by the Bishops of Exeter. In around 1815 a thatched "cottage" in the " cottage ornée" style of Horace Walpole's (1717–1797) Thames-side villa,Evans, ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. A small domestic version of a duck pond with duck house is at Knowle Farm in Derbyshire. Such houses are also used for the birds to nest in a safe and convenient area. Dummy eggs, originally ceramic and now plastic, are used to encourage birds to lay in the duck house.

Installation and maintenance

Duck ponds should be cleaned out regularly to prevent an unwanted and smelly buildup of

fecal Feces (also known as faeces or fæces; : faex) are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relatively small amount of ...

matter that is gradually left behind by the birds using it. They may also be prone to flooding during a storm if they are not raised adequately off the ground.

Media reference

Duck islands came to public prominence in the United Kingdom in May 2009, when a Member of Parliament claimed expenses to have one installed on his property.

Sir Peter Viggers Sir Peter John Viggers (13 March 1938 – 19 March 2020) was a British Conservative politician and lawyer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Gosport for 36 years, from 1974 to 2010. He stepped down as a result of the investigatio ...

chose to stand down as an MP after he was shown to have attempted to pay for his duck island at the UK Parliament's, and hence UK

taxpayer A taxpayer is a person or organization (such as a company) subject to pay a tax. Modern taxpayers may have an identification number, a reference number issued by a government to citizens or firms. The term "taxpayer" generally characterizes o ...

s', expense. File:Duck pond with gazebo.jpg, Duck pond with

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

at apartment in

Covington, Georgia Covington is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia and the seat of Newton County, and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,192. History Covington was founded by European immigrants to the Unite ...

File:Duck near pond.jpg, Duck pond in a public park,

Aci Sant'Antonio Aci Sant'Antonio () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Catania in the Italian region of Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about northeast of Catania. The ''frazione'' of Santa Maria La Stella is home to a ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

File:Compton martin duck pond.JPG,

Compton Martin Compton Martin is a small village and civil parish within the Chew Valley in Somerset and in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority in England. The parish has a population of 508. It lies between Chew Valley Lake and Blagdon Lake, ...

duck pond File:Gainesville Northeast Hist Dist01.jpg, A duck pond in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

File:4 Modliszewice 10.jpg, Duck house in

Modliszewice Modliszewice is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Końskie, within Końskie County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately west of Końskie and north-west of the regional capital Kielce Ki ...

, Poland File:Woodway21-DuckHouse.jpg, The old cob-built Duck House at

Teignmouth, Devon Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,932 at the 2021 census. ...

File:Skogaholm Manor.JPG, Sir

Peter Viggers Sir Peter John Viggers (13 March 1938 – 19 March 2020) was a British Conservative politician and lawyer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Gosport for 36 years, from 1974 to 2010. He stepped down as a result of the investigatio ...

' duck house was a replica of the Swedish Skogaholm Manor File:Duck farming vembanad lake 03.jpg, A Duck pond in

Alappuzha, Kerala Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...

File:Duckingham Palace.jpg, "Duckingham Palace" duck house on Widmore Pond,

Sonning Common Sonning Common is a village and civil parish in a relatively flat, former common land part of the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire, centred west south-west of Henley-on-Thames and north of Reading. History During the English Civil War th ...

, UK.

References

External links

Friends of the Duck Pond — OUPD

The University Parks, Oxford — Introduction
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duck Pond Ducks in popular culture Ducks Garden features Ponds

Duck houses

Installation and maintenance

Media reference

See also

References

External links