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46-644: The catchment area that feeds the reservoir is about one-sixth the land size of Singapore, making it the largest of all the Singaporean reservoirs. Two of the island's most notable rivers - the Singapore River and Kallang River are part of the reservoir. The Geylang River and the Rochor River , both tributaries of the Kallang River form part of this reservoir as well. The reservoir was

92-470: A boat-washing area, toilets and showers, and a doping-control station. A seating gallery for approximately 1,000 spectators will be constructed. This Singapore location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Singapore River Jalan Besar GRC The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in

138-500: A competition venue for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games, where the canoeing and rowing events were carried out. With the recent completion of the Marina Barrage in 2008, the newly created Marina Reservoir is a choice venue for a wide range of water activities including hosting the canoe-kayak and rowing events. The area includes a one-kilometre straight race course for canoeing and rowing activities. The Singapore Canoe Marathon 2009

184-569: A derivative of the verb * dūcan 'to duck, bend down low as if to get under something, or dive', because of the way many species in the dabbling duck group feed by upending; compare with Dutch duiken and German tauchen 'to dive'. This word replaced Old English ened / ænid 'duck', possibly to avoid confusion with other words, such as ende 'end' with similar forms. Other Germanic languages still have similar words for duck , for example, Dutch eend , German Ente and Norwegian and . The word ened / ænid

230-450: A duck squatting on land cannot react to fly or move quickly, "a sitting duck" has come to mean "an easy target". These ducks may be contaminated by pollutants such as PCBs . Ducks have many economic uses, being farmed for their meat, eggs, and feathers (particularly their down ). Approximately 3 billion ducks are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide. They are also kept and bred by aviculturists and often displayed in zoos. Almost all

276-552: A few eggs hatch after the mother has abandoned the nest and led her ducklings to water. Female mallard ducks (as well as several other species in the genus Anas , such as the American and Pacific black ducks , spot-billed duck , northern pintail and common teal ) make the classic "quack" sound while males make a similar but raspier sound that is sometimes written as "breeeeze", but, despite widespread misconceptions, most species of duck do not "quack". In general, ducks make

322-489: A range of calls , including whistles, cooing, yodels and grunts. For example, the scaup – which are diving ducks – make a noise like "scaup" (hence their name). Calls may be loud displaying calls or quieter contact calls. A common urban legend claims that duck quacks do not echo; however, this has been proven to be false. This myth was first debunked by the Acoustics Research Centre at

368-409: A squirming frog. To avoid injury when digging into sediment it has no cere , but the nostrils come out through hard horn. The Guardian published an article advising that ducks should not be fed with bread because it damages the health of the ducks and pollutes waterways. Ducks generally only have one partner at a time , although the partnership usually only lasts one year. Larger species and

414-523: A tribe (Dendrocygnini) in the subfamily Anatinae or the subfamily Anserinae, or to their own subfamily (Dendrocygninae) or family (Dendrocyganidae). The freckled duck of Australia is either the sole member of the tribe Stictonettini in the subfamily Anserinae, or in its own family, the Stictonettinae. The shelducks make up the tribe Tadornini in the family Anserinae in some classifications, and their own subfamily, Tadorninae, in others, while

460-456: A variety of subfamilies and 'tribes'. The number and composition of these subfamilies and tribes is the cause of considerable disagreement among taxonomists. Some base their decisions on morphological characteristics , others on shared behaviours or genetic studies. The number of suggested subfamilies containing ducks ranges from two to five. The significant level of hybridisation that occurs among wild ducks complicates efforts to tease apart

506-402: Is moulted in summer to give a more female-like appearance, the "eclipse" plumage. Southern resident species typically show less sexual dimorphism , although there are exceptions such as the paradise shelduck of New Zealand , which is both strikingly sexually dimorphic and in which the female's plumage is brighter than that of the male. The plumage of juvenile birds generally resembles that of

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552-608: Is known as the Marina Barrage . There are a number of sculptures along the Singapore River. Many of these depict the life of people living and working along the river during the early days of Singapore. Notable sculptures include: Between 1819, when the first wooden jetty and the first bridge were built over the Singapore River in Singapore, and in 2015, 14 bridges were built across the river (or 17, although

598-403: Is sometimes labelled as a duckling. A male is called a drake and the female is called a duck, or in ornithology a hen. All ducks belong to the biological order Anseriformes , a group that contains the ducks, geese and swans, as well as the screamers , and the magpie goose . All except the screamers belong to the biological family Anatidae . Within the family, ducks are split into

644-721: Is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae . Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese , which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form taxon ; they do not represent a monophyletic group (the group of all descendants of a single common ancestral species), since swans and geese are not considered ducks. Ducks are mostly aquatic birds , and may be found in both fresh water and sea water. Ducks are sometimes confused with several types of unrelated water birds with similar forms, such as loons or divers, grebes , gallinules and coots . The word duck comes from Old English dūce 'diver',

690-522: The Chatham duck , a species with reduced flying capabilities which went extinct shortly after its island was colonised by Polynesian settlers. It is probable that duck eggs were gathered by Neolithic hunter-gathers as well, though hard evidence of this is uncommon. In many areas, wild ducks (including ducks farmed and released into the wild) are hunted for food or sport, by shooting, or by being trapped using duck decoys . Because an idle floating duck or

736-729: The Galápagos Islands , where they are often vagrants and less often residents . A handful are endemic to such far-flung islands. Some duck species, mainly those breeding in the temperate and Arctic Northern Hemisphere, are migratory; those in the tropics are generally not. Some ducks, particularly in Australia where rainfall is erratic, are nomadic, seeking out the temporary lakes and pools that form after localised heavy rain. Ducks eat food sources such as grasses , aquatic plants, fish, insects, small amphibians, worms, and small molluscs . Dabbling ducks feed on

782-542: The Marina Reservoir , where the estuary is now located, is considered a Singapore River). Until 1819, the river could only be crossed by boats and ferries. Some of the bridges were demolished and rebuilt or their purpose was changed. The first bridge in Singapore was built over the Singapore river in 1819 where the Elgin Bridge now stands. There have been two Elgin bridges at some point. The first iron-made Elgin Bridge

828-576: The University of Salford in 2003 as part of the British Association 's Festival of Science. It was also debunked in one of the earlier episodes of the popular Discovery Channel television show MythBusters . Ducks have many predators. Ducklings are particularly vulnerable, since their inability to fly makes them easy prey not only for predatory birds but also for large fish like pike , crocodilians , predatory testudines such as

874-493: The alligator snapping turtle , and other aquatic hunters, including fish-eating birds such as herons . Ducks' nests are raided by land-based predators, and brooding females may be caught unaware on the nest by mammals, such as foxes , or large birds, such as hawks or owls . Adult ducks are fast fliers, but may be caught on the water by large aquatic predators including big fish such as the North American muskie and

920-429: The river extends more than two kilometers beyond its original source at Kim Seng Bridge as Alexandra Canal , as far as the junction of Commonwealth Avenue. The mouth of the Singapore River was the old Port of Singapore , being naturally sheltered by the southern islands. Historically, the city of Singapore initially grew around the port so the river mouth became the centre of trade, commerce and finance. Old maps of

966-418: The steamer ducks are either placed in the family Anserinae in the tribe Tachyerini or lumped with the shelducks in the tribe Tadorini. The perching ducks make up in the tribe Cairinini in the subfamily Anserinae in some classifications, while that tribe is eliminated in other classifications and its members assigned to the tribe Anatini. The torrent duck is generally included in the subfamily Anserinae in

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1012-562: The European pike . In flight, ducks are safe from all but a few predators such as humans and the peregrine falcon , which uses its speed and strength to catch ducks. Humans have hunted ducks since prehistoric times. Excavations of middens in California dating to 7800 – 6400 BP have turned up bones of ducks, including at least one now-extinct flightless species. Ducks were captured in "significant numbers" by Holocene inhabitants of

1058-420: The Singapore River and Kallang Basin included waste from pig and duck farms, unsewered premises, street hawkers and vegetable whole sellers. Riverine activities such as transport, boat building and repairs were also found along the Singapore River. Some 750 lighters plied along the Singapore River and Kallang Basin in 1977. Waste, oil spills and wastewater from these boats and lighters added to

1104-521: The Singapore River emptied into Singapore Straits and its southern islands before major land reclamation took place, the Singapore River now empties into Marina Bay – an area of water partially enclosed by the reclamation work. The Port of Singapore is now located to the west of the island, using most of the south-west coast, and passenger ships to Singapore now typically berth at the Singapore Cruise Centre at Harbourfront . Thus

1150-405: The Singapore River's economic role has shifted away from one that of trade, towards more a role accommodated for tourism and aesthetics for the commercial zone which encloses it. Traversing across the river is available via water taxis . The river is now part of the Marina Reservoir after damming the Singapore River at its outlet to the sea to create a new reservoir of freshwater . The dam

1196-408: The banks and the bottom of the river, clearing the debris and other rubbish. Due to such cleaning efforts, the Singapore River has significantly changed from one that was heavily busy and polluted to one that is clean for marine animals. The re-emergence of monitor lizards and otters in the Singapore River has been attributed to the success of the river's cleanup. Whereas the original mouth of

1242-535: The coat of arms of Lubāna ( Latvia ) and the coat of arms of Föglö ( Åland ). In 2002, psychologist Richard Wiseman and colleagues at the University of Hertfordshire , UK , finished a year-long LaughLab experiment, concluding that of all animals, ducks attract the most humor and silliness; he said, "If you're going to tell a joke involving an animal, make it a duck." The word "duck" may have become an inherently funny word in many languages, possibly because ducks are seen as silly in their looks or behavior. Of

1288-469: The diving ducks are heavier than dabbling ducks, and therefore have more difficulty taking off to fly. A few specialized species such as the mergansers are adapted to catch and swallow large fish. The others have the characteristic wide flat bill adapted to dredging -type jobs such as pulling up waterweed, pulling worms and small molluscs out of mud, searching for insect larvae, and bulk jobs such as dredging out, holding, turning head first, and swallowing

1334-536: The female. Female ducks have evolved to have a corkscrew shaped vagina to prevent rape. Ducks have a cosmopolitan distribution , and are found on every continent except Antarctica. Several species manage to live on subantarctic islands, including South Georgia and the Auckland Islands . Ducks have reached a number of isolated oceanic islands, including the Hawaiian Islands , Micronesia and

1380-492: The following – River Valley and Museum to the north, Tanglin and Bukit Merah to the west, Outram to the south, and the Downtown Core to the east. Since 2008, the Singapore River was turned into a fresh water river after the completion of the Marina Barrage at Marina South . The Singapore River is approximately 3.2 kilometers long from its source at Kim Seng Bridge to where it empties into Marina Bay ;

1426-402: The geese and swans. The body shape of diving ducks varies somewhat from this in being more rounded. The bill is usually broad and contains serrated pectens , which are particularly well defined in the filter-feeding species. In the case of some fishing species the bill is long and strongly serrated. The scaled legs are strong and well developed, and generally set far back on the body, more so in

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1472-514: The highly aquatic species. The wings are very strong and are generally short and pointed, and the flight of ducks requires fast continuous strokes, requiring in turn strong wing muscles. Three species of steamer duck are almost flightless, however. Many species of duck are temporarily flightless while moulting ; they seek out protected habitat with good food supplies during this period. This moult typically precedes migration . The drakes of northern species often have extravagant plumage , but that

1518-623: The lower Ohio River valley, suggesting they took advantage of the seasonal bounty provided by migrating waterfowl. Neolithic hunters in locations as far apart as the Caribbean, Scandinavia, Egypt, Switzerland, and China relied on ducks as a source of protein for some or all of the year. Archeological evidence shows that Māori people in New Zealand hunted the flightless Finsch's duck , possibly to extinction, though rat predation may also have contributed to its fate. A similar end awaited

1564-461: The many ducks in fiction , many are cartoon characters, such as Walt Disney 's Donald Duck , and Warner Bros. ' Daffy Duck . Howard the Duck started as a comic book character in 1973 and was made into a movie in 1986. The 1992 Disney film The Mighty Ducks , starring Emilio Estevez , chose the duck as the mascot for the fictional youth hockey team who are protagonists of the movie, based on

1610-406: The monotypic tribe Merganettini, but is sometimes included in the tribe Tadornini. The pink-eared duck is sometimes included as a true duck either in the tribe Anatini or the tribe Malacorhynchini, and other times is included with the shelducks in the tribe Tadornini. The overall body plan of ducks is elongated and broad, and they are also relatively long-necked, albeit not as long-necked as

1656-709: The more sedentary species (like fast-river specialists) tend to have pair-bonds that last numerous years. Most duck species breed once a year, choosing to do so in favourable conditions ( spring /summer or wet seasons). Ducks also tend to make a nest before breeding, and, after hatching, lead their ducklings to water. Mother ducks are very caring and protective of their young, but may abandon some of their ducklings if they are physically stuck in an area they cannot get out of (such as nesting in an enclosed courtyard ) or are not prospering due to genetic defects or sickness brought about by hypothermia, starvation, or disease. Ducklings can also be orphaned by inconsistent late hatching where

1702-601: The pollution of the rivers. In 1977, Prime Minister Lee called for a clean-up of Singapore's rivers, which included the Singapore River and the Kallang River . The clean-up cost the government $ 300 million at the time and involved the relocation of about 4,000 squatters , along with hawkers and vegetable sellers, whose daily waste flowed into the river. Public housing was found for the squatters, while street hawkers were persuaded to move to established hawker centres. The government then completely dredged foul-smelling mud from

1748-477: The relationships between various species. In most modern classifications, the so-called 'true ducks' belong to the subfamily Anatinae, which is further split into a varying number of tribes. The largest of these, the Anatini, contains the 'dabbling' or 'river' ducks – named for their method of feeding primarily at the surface of fresh water. The 'diving ducks', also named for their primary feeding method, make up

1794-415: The river state that it actually originates from Bukit Larangan (currently Fort Canning Hill ). Starting in 1819, there was heavy traffic on the Singapore River due to rapid urbanization and expanding trade . At the same time, it brought in water pollution caused by the disposal of garbage, sewage and other by-products of industries located along the river's banks . The sources of water pollution in

1840-776: The southern part of Singapore . The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area , although the western part of the watershed is classified under the River Valley planning area. Singapore River planning area sits within the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore, as defined by the Urban Redevelopment Authority . The planning area shares boundaries with

1886-431: The surface of water or on land, or as deep as they can reach by up-ending without completely submerging. Along the edge of the bill, there is a comb-like structure called a pecten . This strains the water squirting from the side of the bill and traps any food. The pecten is also used to preen feathers and to hold slippery food items. Diving ducks and sea ducks forage deep underwater. To be able to submerge more easily,

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1932-461: The tribe Aythyini. The 'sea ducks' of the tribe Mergini are diving ducks which specialise on fish and shellfish and spend a majority of their lives in saltwater. The tribe Oxyurini contains the 'stifftails', diving ducks notable for their small size and stiff, upright tails. A number of other species called ducks are not considered to be 'true ducks', and are typically placed in other subfamilies or tribes. The whistling ducks are assigned either to

1978-568: The varieties of domestic ducks are descended from the mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos ), apart from the Muscovy duck ( Cairina moschata ). The Call duck is another example of a domestic duck breed. Its name comes from its original use established by hunters, as a decoy to attract wild mallards from the sky, into traps set for them on the ground. The call duck is the world's smallest domestic duck breed, as it weighs less than 1 kg (2.2 lb). Ducks appear on several coats of arms , including

2024-716: Was built in 1862 and named after Lord Elgin . It was later demolished and replaced with the current Elgin bridge in 1926. Other bridges along the river include the Coleman Bridge (1840), Kim Seng Bridge (1862), Cavenagh Bridge (1869), and Read Bridge (1889). The most recent bridges are the Helix Bridge (2010), Bayfront Bridge (2010), and the Jubilee Bridge (2015). 1°17′15″N 103°51′11″E  /  1.28750°N 103.85306°E  / 1.28750; 103.85306 Duck See text Duck

2070-407: Was inherited from Proto-Indo-European ; cf. Latin anas "duck", Lithuanian ántis 'duck', Ancient Greek νῆσσα / νῆττα ( nēssa / nētta ) 'duck', and Sanskrit ātí 'water bird', among others. A duckling is a young duck in downy plumage or baby duck, but in the food trade a young domestic duck which has just reached adult size and bulk and its meat is still fully tender,

2116-649: Was staged at the Marina Reservoir in January 2009. The on-land staging of canoeing and rowing competitions is along a portion of Gardens by the Bay – a new 32-hectare park next to the Marina Reservoir. With an extensive water frontage along the Marina Reservoir, the Gardens will provide an excellent vantage point. The facilities at the reservoir during Singapore 2010 include a boat-storage shed for up to 200 boats,

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