# When it's -10-F and the ducks are in the water, why don't they freeze? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-its-10-f-and-the-ducks-are-in-the-water-why-dont-they-freeze/390134 "2007-01-30T17:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-its-10-f-and-the-ducks-are-in-the-water-why-dont-they-freeze/390134/1 "2007-01-30T17:02:03Z")
I understand the water is warmer than the air, this I get. I know the tidal waters where I live do not freeze except but 2-400 yards out to sea sometimes freezes. I’m looking at a group of Canadian Geese, and a group of Woods Ducks, they are happy as can be, and the outside air temp is 12 degrees with a windchill of close to -5. How do their little scaled feet/paddles, not freeze when they exit the water? Is it a layer of oil? What gives? Are feathers above the scaled feet/paddles _that_ insulating? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-its-10-f-and-the-ducks-are-in-the-water-why-dont-they-freeze/390134/2 "2007-01-30T17:05:31Z")
There’s a reason why duck and goose down is used in coats and blankets. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-its-10-f-and-the-ducks-are-in-the-water-why-dont-they-freeze/390134/3 "2007-01-30T17:45:11Z")
Like water off a duck’s back. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-its-10-f-and-the-ducks-are-in-the-water-why-dont-they-freeze/390134/4 "2007-01-30T17:52:53Z")
Yeah, but what about their little skinny legs, which are actually paddling around in (perhaps literally) freezing water? twicks, who passes a swan pond every morning on the way to work and has been wondering the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-its-10-f-and-the-ducks-are-in-the-water-why-dont-they-freeze/390134/5 "2007-01-30T17:57:44Z")
I dunno; they don’t look that happy to me. Whenever I pass a pond full of ducks near wintertime, they always seem to have this look on their faces of “when we find out who the jackass is who said we have to fly back north again, we’re all going to kill him and eat him…” And geese are just mean. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-its-10-f-and-the-ducks-are-in-the-water-why-dont-they-freeze/390134/6 "2007-01-30T18:16:16Z")
[linky](http://www.treknature.com/gallery/North_America/Canada/photo9035.htm) > [@](#): > > These birds have a network of arteries and veins called a rete mirabile. When hot blood comes down to their feet through the arteries, the heat from the blood is transferred to the cold blood going up through its veins in a countercurrent mechanism. > > The heat in the blood is exchanged over from the hot artery into the cool vein, so the heat is not lost from the bird. It actually comes back into the bird. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-its-10-f-and-the-ducks-are-in-the-water-why-dont-they-freeze/390134/7 "2007-01-30T18:34:11Z")
They do freeze to death, sometimes. There’s a big pond near here with a resident flock of ducks and geese. Every year, when ice covers the pond, you can see a few ducks frozen into the ice. Most of them survive, and **Randy Seltzer** already explained that part. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-its-10-f-and-the-ducks-are-in-the-water-why-dont-they-freeze/390134/8 "2007-01-30T18:34:12Z")
> [@](#): > > I dunno; they don’t look that happy to me. Whenever I pass a pond full of ducks near wintertime, they always seem to have this look on their faces of “when we find out who the jackass is who said we have to fly back north again, we’re all going to kill him and eat him…” There’s a pond of semi-tame ducks on campus who stay through the entire winter, thanks to the guaranteed food source they have here (mostly folks throwing them bread, supplemented by goldfish from the pond). Except when I walk past them late at night and accidentally startle them, I’ve never seen them to be anything but happy. And I’ve wondered about the OP’s question, too: Given that they ordinarily migrate, I can’t see why they would have evolved to be able to handle temperatures of 40 below (which we do sometimes get around here). That has to take a lot of resources that could have been better spent elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-its-10-f-and-the-ducks-are-in-the-water-why-dont-they-freeze/390134/9 "2007-01-30T20:20:06Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] There’s a pond of semi-tame ducks on campus who stay through the entire winter, thanks to the guaranteed food source they have here (mostly folks throwing them bread, supplemented by goldfish from the pond). Except when I walk past them late at night and accidentally startle them, I’ve never seen them to be anything but happy. And I’ve wondered about the OP’s question, too: Given that they ordinarily migrate, I can’t see why they would have evolved to be able to handle temperatures of 40 below (which we do sometimes get around here). That has to take a lot of resources that could have been better spent elsewhere. [/QUOTE] I hate to say their little internal biologic rhythme (sp?) could be getting screwed up, but, their little biological clocks could be getting screwed up due to warmer temps in the late fall early winter. However, as someone who used to do a fair bit of hunting, wood ducks, pin tails, and canvas backs have been staying later and later each year for the past decade. Oddly it’s the malards who have been taking off sooner.