Harvard Collaboration

In 2018, The Conservancy partnered with Harvard University to investigate waterfowl anatomy specializations across duck phylogeny that exist due to trade-offs resulting from the demands of varying movement regimes (e.g. flying, swimming, and diving). 

This study utilized high speed cameras to track movement behaviors, such as surface swimming, diving, and walking patterns. Cameras were placed both above and below the water in order to track foot motion and speed. The species examined included dabbling, diving, and sea duck clades and focused specifically on the Laysan duck (Anas laysanensis), Puna teal (Spatula puna), New Zealand scaup (Aythya novaeseelandiae), Baer's pochard (Aythya baeri), and Common eider (Somateria mollissima).