Different animals in the animal kingdom have different ways of walking, some animals walk on all fours, some animals slither and some animals waddle.
Waddling is a curious way to walk but ducks seem to do this with no issue and are used to it, but why do ducks waddle? This article looks into it
Why do ducks waddle?
Ducks have evolved over the years because of years of natural selection. How they are designed has made them exceptionally well adapted to the environments that they live in.
One characteristic that ducks have adapted to have is swimming well in water.
These birds have three front toes that are connected with the skin causing the birds to have webbed feet.
The bird’s toes are webbed together by the skin on the duck’s feet while the toe on the back is raised slightly.
The bird’s feet are also set back on the bird’s body and they aren’t pointed straight forwards but are turned slightly inwards.
This causes the birds to waddle as they walk, taking short clumsy-looking steps and swaying as they walk as their feet are not straight on.
Ducks benefit from this foot shape as it makes swimming in water bodies very easy for them. It also keeps the birds from sinking into mud as they walk around in environments where there is a lot of water and thus a lot of mud on the floor.
All of this is very normal for ducks and it doesn’t affect their livelihoods negatively as they are used to it.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other duck related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Do Ducks Protect Chickens?, Why Is My Duck Acting Drunk?, Duckling Swollen Chest, Why Are My Ducklings Chirping So Much?