# The ROW_NUMBER Awakens

DB Quacks SQL Tutorial · level 24 · chapter 5

Ninja analyst duck appears silently in dark goggles. "Stealth mission! Find the oldest duck in each species group without collapsing groups like GROUP BY. Window functions preserve details while adding ranking magic!"

## Task

Show each duck with their rank by age within their species group from the ducks table. You will be using window functions to rank ducks within each species.

## Hint

Look for a window function that assigns sequential numbers to rows within partitions.

## Expected result

A table showing each duck with their age rank within their species group.

## Tables

### `duck_diaries` (10 rows)

| column | type |
| --- | --- |
| diary_id | BIGINT |
| duck_id | BIGINT |
| entry_date | DATE |
| diary_text | VARCHAR |
| mood | VARCHAR |

### `duck_surveys` (5000 rows)

| column | type |
| --- | --- |
| survey_id | BIGINT |
| duck_id | BIGINT |
| age | BIGINT |
| favorite_food | VARCHAR |
| favorite_pond | BIGINT |
| swimming_rating | BIGINT |
| migration_preference | VARCHAR |
| social_behavior | VARCHAR |
| health_status | VARCHAR |
| activity_level | VARCHAR |
| survey_date | DATE |
| survey_location | BIGINT |

### `ducks` (15 rows)

| column | type |
| --- | --- |
| id | BIGINT |
| name | VARCHAR |
| age | BIGINT |
| species | VARCHAR |
| birth_date | DATE |
| arrival_date | DATE |

### `ponds` (3 rows)

| column | type |
| --- | --- |
| pond_id | BIGINT |
| pond_name | VARCHAR |
| location_lat | DOUBLE |
| location_lng | DOUBLE |
| capacity | BIGINT |
| features | VARCHAR[] |
| amenities | VARCHAR[] |

## Data

The tables live in a DuckDB database: https://dbquacks.com/data/databases/tutorial.duckdb

To query it outside the browser, attach it read-only:

```sql
ATTACH 'https://dbquacks.com/data/databases/tutorial.duckdb' AS db (READ_ONLY);
USE db;
```

Play it in the browser: https://dbquacks.com/tutorial/24

## Reference

https://duckdb.org/docs/stable/sql/functions/window_functions.html