# Do Ducks Float If They Don't Paddle? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501 "2009-04-18T03:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/1 "2009-04-18T03:23:15Z")
I was watching the ducks in the Chicago River, because well I like to snoop on ducks. After all you never know what they might be planning. Anyway the river was especially clear, and I saw them even when the appeared to be still in the water, there little hind legs (OK they don’t have front legs, but it sounds better to use the phrase “Little hind legs”) were still paddling. So my question is do ducks (and other water birds like Swans, Geese, Grebes, Loons etc) float even if they don’t paddle? Like if I tied their legs together would they sink, if they couldn’t paddle? ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/2 "2009-04-18T03:33:13Z")
Of course they float. Ducks paddle constantly because water has currents that will send them crashing into the weeds or the rocks if they don’t work to maintain their position. They paddle very little on slow-moving water. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/3 "2009-04-18T03:43:04Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > I was watching the ducks in the Chicago River, because well I like to snoop on ducks. After all you never know what they might be planning. > > Anyway the river was especially clear, and I saw them even when the appeared to be still in the water, there little hind legs (OK they don’t have front legs, but it sounds better to use the phrase “Little hind legs”) were still paddling. > > So my question is do ducks (and other water birds like Swans, Geese, Grebes, Loons etc) float even if they don’t paddle? Like if I tied their legs together would they sink, if they couldn’t paddle? Ducks _land_ there? Maybe it’s not like it was when I was there (1964). Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/4 "2009-04-18T04:15:44Z")
Ni! ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/5 "2009-04-18T05:18:10Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Ducks _land_ there? > Maybe it’s not like it was when I was there (1964). > Peace, > mangeorge No “maybe” about it. The Chicago River is waaaaay cleaner than it was back then. There must be tons of Chicago River websites that can detail this for you, but the whole watershed is much clearer than ever before. Hell, the zebra mussels have cleaned up Lake Michigan so much that it looks like the water off Jamaica. Of course, there are biogists who are very concerned about all that, but the point is that the lake is crystal clear these days. ---
**Author:** ![PBear42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PBear42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear42)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/6 "2009-04-18T06:56:34Z")
To put it bluntly, a dead duck floats. That’s how water dogs retrieve them. Paddling doesn’t enter into it. It’s a simple matter of feathers holding air. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/7 "2009-04-18T07:02:03Z")
> [@CC](#): > > No “maybe” about it. The Chicago River is waaaaay cleaner than it was back then. I think **mangeorge** was pointing out the oddness of using the verb _to land_ to mean _arrive upon the surface of the water_. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/8 "2009-04-18T09:49:42Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Ni! Of course they float. They’re made of wood! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/9 "2009-04-18T13:37:08Z")
More important, do they echo if they don’t quack? ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/10 "2009-04-18T13:48:46Z")
I’m fairly sure even a plucked duck would float because they have so much fat. I guess we could find out. > [@Markxxx](#): > > OK they don’t have front legs, but it sounds better to use the phrase “Little hind legs”) No it doesn’t. ETA: The tv show _Mythbusters_ actually tackled the stupid claim that “a duck’s quack doesn’t echo”; maybe they’d pluck a duck for science. (Surprisingly, they did come up with something: a duck’s quack and its echo are hard to tell apart, so if you heard a bunch of ducks quacking, you might hear their echoes without realizing it.) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/11 "2009-04-18T14:02:32Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > No it doesn’t. Sounds more poetic. Therefore better. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/12 "2009-04-18T14:51:33Z")
How would paddling help keep them afloat, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/13 "2009-04-18T15:25:09Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > How would paddling help keep them afloat, anyway? Treading water? ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/14 "2009-04-18T16:36:04Z")
Hm, maybe, but their paddle action tends to push them along, I don’t think they exert much force downwards normally… ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/15 "2009-04-18T16:46:29Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > How would paddling help keep them afloat, anyway? Will E. Coyote effect 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/16 "2009-04-18T16:51:39Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > Hm, maybe, but their paddle action tends to push them along, I don’t think they exert much force downwards normally… I’d forgotten how far back their [little hind legs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zalK5LhJD4A&NR=1) are. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/17 "2009-04-18T19:48:18Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Ducks _land_ there? > Maybe it’s not like it was when I was there (1964). > Peace, > mangeorge No they cleaned it up a lot. I think the ducks and geese like it 'cause the river banks are pretty much reduced to a “canal-like” metal on each side. Then they have steps of wood where the old industrial (that don’t exist anymore) building used to be. These wood planks collapse and give the ducks places to build their nests. It’s probably easier to guard them since the raccoons and such can’t sneak down the metal. If they want to attack the ducks they have to splash into the water. Plus in a lot of places they pump oxygen into the river. It makes huge foam bubbles. I don’t know if it helps but the ducks seem to like to swim into the bubbling water, then the bubbles kick them right back out. Also a lot of the Chicago River north of North Avenue, has been converted from old factories to lofts for Yuppies. So the ducks probably get fed too. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/18 "2009-04-18T20:09:46Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > I’m fairly sure even a plucked duck would float because they have so much fat. I guess we could find out. Well, I can tell you a plucked duck floats but just barely. I need to put a plate on top when I brine them. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/19 "2009-04-18T21:52:19Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Well, I can tell you a plucked duck floats but just barely. I need to put a plate on top when I brine them. I’ll bet they squawk like hell! ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501/20 "2009-04-18T23:31:37Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I think **mangeorge** was pointing out the oddness of using the verb _to land_ to mean _arrive upon the surface of the water_. Except _land_ was never used in the OP. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ducks-float-if-they-dont-paddle/493501.md?page=2)