Tufted ducks may soon join mallards in spending the cold season here.

Professor Ilgizar Rakhimov, Chairman of the Tatarstan Branch of the Russian Bird Conservation Union, Chair of the Department of Bioecology, Hygiene and Public Health, shared that mallards become more and more visible each year in the water bodies of Kazan. There were barely a dozen or two 20 years ago, but now there are hundreds. Moreover, there are conditions for tufted ducks to also remain in Kazan for winter.

“This year the winter is very slow to come. Water remains open, and even seagulls have not left so far. The temperature allows them to survive. Mallards chose Kazan for overwintering quite a long time ago. And their number grows, in part thanks to feeding provided by locals. Some of the food is consumed by the birds, such as bread. But cakes, for example, are not,” says Dr. Rakhimov. Ducks also eat water and earth plants, little insects, snails, etc. Overall, there are about five or six water bodies in the city especially favored by ducks.

Our interviewee adds, “Gradually, some birds started willfully remaining in Kazan because there was enough food for them thanks to our inhabitants. So why waste energy to migrate to the south when there is enough food here? Ducks are not particularly susceptible to cold – their body temperature is 42 degrees, so even 30-degree winters are not a threat to them. They can only suffer from the lack of food intake. That's why we totally welcome when people are kind enough to help the birds with nutrition.”

Source text: Kristina Ivanova

Translation: Yury Nurmeev