Regular readers of The Chronicle’s “Beak of the Week” feature have likely noticed the piece’s misnomer.
There is not a beak every week. Some weeks, there are two.
The reality is, birdwatching is not regular. Its more challenging cousin, bird photography, is even less so. Some weeks, you get lucky. Others, the birds seem to be avoiding you.
In the fall in Western Washington, though, there are two birds so reliable and ubiquitous that The Chronicle ought to hire them for a weekly feature.
Those are the Canada goose and the mallard duck. Most Washingtonians see these birds on a weekly or even daily basis without thinking twice.
In Lewis County, we have a front row seat for the Pacific Flyway’s migratory birds. Like clockwork, birds use this highway in the sky to travel their desired routes anywhere between South America and the Alaskan and Canadian tundra.
Western Washington’s wetlands and farm fields make it ideal for waterfowl of all shapes and sizes. Canada geese and mallard ducks don’t discriminate. They’re often found alongside coots, widgeons, ducks, geese and swans of many sorts.
Geese especially love freshly mowed corn and wheat fields, where they scavenge for food and often stay for a rest. Geese also have teeth, which is weird and somewhat terrifying. When bothered, they hiss.
Mallards are resilient. They visit every continent in the world besides Antarctica and live five to 10 years in the wild on average.
He likely wasn’t a pure mallard, but one domestic duck in Chehalis — named “Drake,” naturally — lived to be at least 19 years old.
Drake was my childhood pet.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has resources for waterfowl identification at https://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/requirements/waterfowl/identification.
Also, I won’t give up the “Beak of the Week” name. It’s fun.
