I thought it’d be a breeze: google “duck anatomy” and get a picture showing the cross-section of a swimming duck, ie. where the heart, lungs, liver, stomach etc. sit, in relation to the waterline. But no luck.
So, avian anatomists, duck hunters, anyone: can you drop me a hint on where to get such a picture? Or just tell me anything you know on the subject. I especially want to know if the heart/lungs of a swimming duck are at the waterline, above or (not likely) below it.
I’m an anyone, and from looking at this generic bird cross section I estimate that the waterline runs pretty much through the middle of the heart, liver and stomach. The lungs and air sacks seem to be conveniently placed far above the waterline even in non-swimming birds.
Concur, with different generic anatomy and a swimming-duck-shot-from-below.
This suggests otherwise. 
Thanks, guys!
So, it seems that bird hearts are situated well below the lungs. It might also be that that “generic pidgeon” is not representative of a “generic waterfowl”, dunno. It’d still be really nice to find a diagram showing if a duck’s heart does in fact sit at the waterline or not.
