Floating Formation Foraging

These mallards were dabbling along in the shallows and I (being easily entertained, as I've mentioned before) was tickled by a couple of things.

First, I liked the way the males' head feathers differed in coloration, depending on the angle of their heads. The one in front is brilliant green, the one in the middle looks almost black and the male toward the back is betwixt and between the two, with part bright green and part dark. 

Second, I was captured by the way they all nosed (or billed?) along in almost perfect unison and in a pretty precisely formed line in both angle and distance between them. (Madam duck is just a little off, but being smaller and of different coloration also changes the look of the line-up, so it might just be an optical illusion.)

And finally, I was completely tickled by the little curliques on the drakes' tails. Perfectly coiffed DA haircuts, don't you think? It's really easy to see how the style got its name!

This pair had struck out on its own, but was still participating in the diagonal offset formation flotation pattern as they paddled along. It's a perfect layout for getting a good look at each of the ducks!