Canada Geese are often loud and aggressive in their interactions with each other, but ducks seem much calm and restrained. I was therefore quite surprised when I saw these two male Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata) get into a minor dispute.
I am not sure why these two ducks were squabbling, but I got one possible indication when I looked at the edge of the frame. A female Northern Shoveler was nearby and appeared to be watching the action out of the corner of her eye. Were the two males vying for her affection and attention?
After a short period of wrestling, the two males separated and swam off in opposite directions, having settled, at least for a short time, whatever issue prompted the initial dispute.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Those two act like they’ve been married for awhile. 🙂
That’s funny!
We have lots of Canada geese on the river here and they are quite quarrelsome.
What large beaks they have. Kind of the Jimmy Durantes of the duck world.