Duck is a bird with waterproof feathers and webbed feet. Ducks are related to geese and swans. But ducks have shorter necks and wings and flatter bills, and they quack or whistle rather than honk. Male ducks are called drakes, and females are called ducks.

Ducks live throughout the world in wetlands, including marshes and areas near rivers, ponds, lakes, and oceans. They inhabit arctic, temperate, and tropical regions for some or all of the year. Many kinds of ducks migrate long distances annually between their breeding grounds, where they rest and raise their young, and their wintering areas, where the water does not freeze. Some ducks migrate thousands of miles.

Most ducks are good to eat. Farmers raise the ducks that people buy to eat at home and in restaurants. Duck farming is a profitable business on Long Island, New York, and in the state of Washington, as well as in many parts of Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Hunters also kill many kinds of wild ducks for food. But the sale of wild game is against the law in a number of countries, including the United States and Canada.