Facts and quacks

You know how once every couple of years you and your family line the railings atop the Ann W. Richards Congress Ave. Bridge and wait with anticipation for thousands and thousands of creatures to emerge?

Well, what if you gathered there late morning instead of at dusk? And what if the critters floated on the water instead of soaring above it? What if, instead of bats, they were bright yellow, vinyl toys with orange beaks?

Welcome to the Austin Duck Derby.

The event, in its second year, takes place at 11 a.m. Saturday and benefits the Austin Boys & Girls Club Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports and assists the 22 Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area. Those clubs help more than 12,000 kids each year.

In 2014, the fundraiser met its goal through the race and in-kind donations, says Gina Hill, special events coordinator for the Foundation. Here’s how it all works: Folks head to duckrace.com/austin to sponsor a rubber duck. A single critter costs $5, six go for $25, a dozen will set you back $50 and, for $100, you can sponsor a flock of 25.

At race time, 10,000 of the sponsored toys are lowered into Lady Bird Lake from the bridge under the supervision of the Austin Fire Department. The first floaters to the finish line can win one of a dozen prizes, including a 2015 Volkswagen Jetta, a Ducati Scrambler Motorcycle and a one-week stay at the Fairmont Heritage Place in Telluride, Colo.

You don’t get to take your rubber duck home with you; after the 20-minute race, they immediately enter training for next year’s event. To distract you from potential separation anxiety, here is a paddling of rubber duck facts — bet you didn’t know a group of ducks was called a paddling, did you? — that will help you to keep your ducks in a row:

Bunches of beaks

A group of ducks can also be called a badelynge, bunch, brace, flock, raft or team.

‘You make bath time lots of fun’

Jim Henson could hardly have predicted the enormous success of “Rubber Duckie,” the bathtub tune he sang as muppet Ernie on “Sesame Street.” Written and composed by Jeff Moss, the song peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart on Sept. 26, 1970. (Diana Ross’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” was No. 1). Artists including Little Richard and Jane Krakowski have covered the song, and there are at least three disco versions as well as ukulele, soft and experimental jazz, roaring ’20s, and Americana banjo covers.

Vinyl duckie?

The rubber duck dates to the 1800s, when rubber manufacturing ramped up. The earliest versions weren’t the soft, squishy toys of today, as they were made from hard rubber. And they didn’t float. Solid through and through, they were sold as chew toys. In the 1940s, rubber ducks — no longer made of rubber, they’re usually vinyl now — began to look like the familiar bright yellow, orange-billed critters we see today. That’s when Los Angeles sculptor Peter Ganine patented a design for the floating, feathered fowl and sold tens of millions of them.

Ducks ’n’ trucks

C.W. McCall’s ubiquitous 1975 song “Convoy” — which started that decade’s odd Citizens’ Band radio craze — told the story of a line of trucks rambling down the road and featured a character with the handle Rubber Duck. The song, which reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Country Singles charts, has been covered by Mannheim Steamroller, Boxcar Willie and the Boondogglers. A cover of the song appeared in the video game “Grand Theft Auto V,” but it was neither the heavy metal version by Disastrous nor the bizarre electronica/metal/banjo mashup by Canadian duo Baboon Torture Division.

There’s an app for that

LANDHO! Co. Ltd. publishes a game for iOS devices called Ducky Derby. Passively watch your duck float down the stream — just like in a real duck derby — or help your critter along by flicking, tapping, tilting, jerking and shaking your iOS device. There are only four stages, and the game hasn’t been updated in years — but it costs just 99 cents.

Leonardo Valente’s Android game, Rubber Duck, isn’t really much of a game. In fact, it’s just a virtual version of a rubber duck. Poke it once and it makes that rubber ducky noise. A long touch produces a different noise. Bring it to the shores of Lady Bird Lake to cheer on your quacker, or just make it your new ringtone and annoy your friends and family. This app also costs 99 cents.

Duck diva

Who holds the record for the largest collection of rubber ducks? That’d be Charlotte Lee. On April 10, 2011, the Guinness Book of World Records certified Lee, of Seattle, Wash., whose collection includes 5,631 unique rubber ducks. She began collecting the critters almost 20 years ago.

Feathered fame

The Rubber Duck was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame (toyhalloffame.org) in 2013. Along with the game chess, rubber duckies beat out other potential inductees that year, including bubbles, the board game Clue, Nerf toys and green Army men. The museum says: “Rubber ducks naturally inspire water play that develops muscle strength and coordination. With their bright color, smooth texture, and (for some) squeaky or quacky sounds, rubber ducks sharpen toddlers’ senses. Their presence in the bathtub soothes youngsters’ fears of water and water immersion and makes good clean fun of the routine hygiene they’re learning.”

Make like a duck

Not content to just sit on the sidelines? Here are some places that can help you get out on the water:

• Rowing Dock: Located west of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) on the south shore of the lake, the enterprise offers kayaks, paddle boats and stand up paddle boards for rent, camps and instruction. rowingdock.com
• Texas Rowing Center: Located on the lake just south of Austin High School, the business offers rowing, kayak/canoe rentals and lessons. texasrowingcenter.com
• Zilker Park Boat Rentals: On Barton Creek, just east of Barton Springs Pool, they rent canoes and kayaks. zilkerboats.com
• Austin Waterbikes: Yep, you can even bike on the lake. Behind the Hyatt Regency hotel at 208 Barton Springs Road, this company rents a pedal-powered blend of a kayak and a bicycle capable of cruising up to 7 miles an hour. austinwaterbikes.com

This story has been updated to correct the location of the Fairmont Heritage Place.

Austin Duck Derby