With swift wing beats, canvasbacks are one of the fastest ducks in the sky, but the trade-off is that they are very slow and clumsy on land. Because their feet are placed far back on their body for swimming and diving, the canvasback has difficulty walking on land and cannot quickly lift off the water like a mallard. Instead, the canvasback must flap its wings and get a running start over the water's surface before taking flight. Photo by Kim Taylor