Duck vs. Turtle

Ohio History

Whistling Duck

From the research hut, we entered the free-flight indoor Aviary, which houses more than 50 specimens of 15 different species of wild birds. We watched parrots preening themselves and scarlet ibises wading through the shallow water. The white-faced whistling ducks like the one above were especially fun to watch. They waddled up and down the rocky shore, drilling around with their bills looking for food, and eventually gliding into the water to pay a visit to the turtle.

Batagur Turtle

This batagur turtle sat on a rock island in the middle of the ducks' pond. Beside it was a container filled with greens to feed the turtle. Ducks being ducks, these birds desperately wanted to share in the turtle's lunch. However, from the water, they were just not quite able to reach their long necks into the dish to eat. Apparently either the rock island was too steep for the ducks to climb up on, or they were afraid of the turtle, since climbing on shore for the snack seemed to be out of the option. As a result, the ducks swam back and forth, trying to propel their bills high enough to reach the greens and never quite succeeding. It was quite entertaining to watch, though I did feel a bit sorry for the ducks!