Minnesota has several species of ducks.

Ducks are divided into two groups:

Puddle ducks live in shallow marshes (puddles) and rivers and feed by dabbling. You can often see their bottoms tipped up as they feed in the shallows. These ducks also feed often in grain fields. Puddle ducks are able to lift off from water or land immediately.

Minnesota puddle ducks are the mallard, green-winged teal, blue-winged teal, cinnamon teal, pintail, gadwall, wigeon, shoveler, wood duck, and black duck.

Diving ducks spend their time in large, deep lakes and rivers. They feed on fish, shellfish, mollusks, and aquatic plants by diving, often to deep depths. They can swim long distances underwater by kicking their large paddle feet. Diving ducks can't launch from water straight into the air like puddle ducks can. Instead, they patter along the water surface for several yards before becoming airborne.

Minnesota diving ducks are the canvasback, redhead, ringneck (also called ringbill), scaup (also called bluebill), goldeneye, bufflehead, and ruddy duck.