 Many observers have noted the birds’ preference to lose themselves in the grass when they are approached, rather than to seek safety in the air, and it is likely that before the arrival of men and guns at South Georgia they used their wings only for relatively short and infrequent flights.The ducks are omnivorous; they feed on vegetation, including marine and freshwater algae, dabbling and diving in the sea when the water is calm.They also consume a range of invertebrates, including freshwater fairy shrimp ("Brachinecta gaini"), marine amphipods, Diptera, small clams, nematodes and snails, foraging in the intertidal zone and sometimes scavenging at seal carcasses.