No Frostbite for Fowl
So just how can ducks and geese stand on ice for hours and not literally freeze their webbed feet off?
Well, waterfowl have a special counter-current heat exchange circulation system in their scaly, exposed legs. Warm blood in the arteries passes quite near cold blood in veins, and by the time the blood reaches a duck's toes, it has cooled. That reduces heat loss from the legs, and also keeps the foot from melting — and then sticking to — the ice.