Anas americana

Was that picture taken in the fall or the spring? I recall them as somewhat redder... Maybe it's a seasonal or even a regional variation?

A widgeon in a wicopy In which no widgeon ought to be, A widowed widgeon was. While in a willow wickiup A Wichita sat down to sup With other Wichitas, And what they whittled as they ate Included what had been of late A widgeon’s wing. ‘Twas thus The widgeon in the wicopy, In which no widgeon ought to be, A widowed widgeon was.

Oh, that takes me back: "This is John Ciardi, with a Word In Your Ear." Not merely witty but had a great deep speaking voice as well.

I recall one of his broadcasts where he was wondering why canaries didn't sing the way they used to when he was a kid. He determined that it was due to the fact that birdseed used to contain hempseed, and that the canaries of his youth were "tweeting their little stoned heads off."

What else would you get from a poet who published in sci-fi pulp rags? Him and Asimov had infamous limerick competitions.

HE and Asimov, please.

Just Bob said: HE and Asimov, please.

Ciardi noted, in his "How Should A Poem Mean?" essay, that the fact that ducks don't roost in trees needed to be accounted for in the poem. Thus "in which no widgeon ought to be".

Ha! shows what Ciardi knows. Wigeons don't roost in trees, but some ducks do. Some ducks even nest in trees. So there.

I don't know if whistling ducks do ... but they don't quack. They have the proportions of duck-size geese, long necks and legs, and go "HOO HOO! HOO HOO!"

Some species of whistling ducks perch in trees, but others don't. They don't quack. But neither do wigeons.

mrg said: I don't know if whistling ducks do ... but they don't quack. They have the proportions of duck-size geese, long necks and legs, and go "HOO HOO! HOO HOO!"

Around here, whistling ducks spend a lot of time on people's roofs.