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    Guide to Ducks and Geese
    Guide to Ducks and Geese
    Guide to Ducks and Geese
    Ebook148 pages55 minutes

    Guide to Ducks and Geese

    By Chuck Hagner and Tom Vezo

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    About this ebook

    An easy-to-use introduction and ID guide. Includes all North American ducks and geese. With a "What to Look For" list for each species.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherStackpole Books
    Release dateAug 4, 2006
    ISBN9780811743037
    Guide to Ducks and Geese

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      Book preview

      Guide to Ducks and Geese - Chuck Hagner

      Copyright © 2006 by Stackpole Books

      Published by

      STACKPOLE BOOKS

      5067 Ritter Road

      Mechanicsburg, PA 17055

      www.stackpolebooks.com

      All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Stackpole Books, 5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055.

      First edition

      Cover photo of Wood Duck by Tom Vezo

      Cover design by Wendy Reynolds

      Additional photos provided by Tony Mercieca, Richard Crossley/VIREO, Jari Peltomaki/VIREO, Arthur Morris/VIREO, Sam Fried/VIREO, Morten Strange/VIREO, and Gerrit Vyn/VIREO, as indicated

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Hagner, Chuck.

      Guide to ducks and geese / Chuck Hagner ; photographs by Tom Vezo. — 1st ed.

      p. cm.

      ISBN-13: 978-0-8117-3344-1

      1. Ducks—Identification. 2. Geese—Identification. I. Title.

      QL696.A52H325 2006

      598.4'1—dc22

      2006012165

      eBook ISBN: 9780811743037

      CONTENTS

      1: DABBLING DUCKS

      Mallard

      American Black Duck

      Mottled Duck

      Gadwall

      Northern Pintail

      American Wigeon

      Eurasian Wigeon

      Northern Shoveler

      Garganey

      Cinnamon Teal

      Blue-winged Teal

      Green-winged Teal

      Fulvous Whistling-Duck

      Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

      Muscovy Duck

      Wood Duck

      2: DIVING DUCKS

      Canvasback

      Redhead

      Tufted Duck

      Ring-necked Duck

      Greater Scaup

      Lesser Scaup

      Common Eider

      King Eider

      Spectacled Eider

      Steller’s Eider

      Harlequin Duck

      Long-tailed Duck

      Surf Scoter

      Black Scoter

      White-winged Scoter

      Common Goldeneye

      Barrow’s Goldeneye

      Bufflehead

      Hooded Merganser

      Common Merganser

      Red-breasted Merganser

      Masked Duck

      Ruddy Duck

      3: LOONS, GREBES, AND OTHER WATERBIRDS

      Red-throated Loon

      Pacific Loon

      Common Loon

      Yellow-billed Loon

      Red-necked Grebe

      Horned Grebe

      Eared Grebe

      Pied-billed Grebe

      Least Grebe

      Western Grebe

      Clark’s Grebe

      Double-crested Cormorant

      Purple Gallinule

      Common Moorhen

      American Coot

      4: GEESE

      Barnacle Goose

      Canada Goose

      Brant

      Greater White-fronted Goose

      Greylag Goose

      Emperor Goose

      Snow Goose

      Ross’s Goose

      INDEX OF SPECIES

      1

      DABBLING DUCKS

      Ahelpful way to categorize ducks is by the way they feed. Dabbling ducks lower their heads, necks, and chests into the water while tipping their tail feathers up above the water’s surface to feed on plant material, and occasionally small animals. They dive, but very infrequently. Sometimes called puddle ducks, dabbling ducks are usually found in shallow water: streams or ponds or along the edges of rivers and lakes. Because they can get airborne straight out of the water without a running start, they often prefer small pockets of water shielded by surrounding vegetation. Most dabblers are comfortable walking on dry land.

      male Mallard

      Mallard

      Anas platyrhynchos

      female

      Easily the most familiar, abundant, and widely distributed duck in North America. Stocky and heavy-looking in the air, Mallards are found just about anywhere there is water to swim in.

      Adult males are instantly recognizable. They have a large dark green head, a heavy yellow bill about as long as the head is wide, and a chestnut-brown breast. A thin white necklace separates the head and breast. The flanks and wings are pale gray, and the rump and undertail coverts (the small feathers that cover the longer main tail feathers) are black. The tail is two-toned: The outermost tail feathers are white, while those in the center are black and, unique among ducks, noticeably curly.

      Female Mallards lack the males’ color and curly tail feathers. They are mottled brown all over. A prominent dark line extends from their bill through the eye. Females could be mistaken for American Black Ducks but for their bills: The Mallard’s is orange, and its center is black. The black duck’s bill is olive on females and greenish yellow on males, but never orange.

      The speculum—the colored patch of feathers on the wings of many dabbling ducks—offers another point of distinction. Iridescent violet-blue, it resembles the patch on the back, or trailing, edge of the American Black Duck’s wing but is framed top and bottom with bold white bars.

      domestic Mallard

      Mallard x American Black Duck hybrid

      © RICHARD CROSSLEY/VIREO

      Mallards interbreed often with American Black Ducks. If you come across a duck whose plumage combines features of both species, you may be looking at a hybrid. Hybrids are recorded frequently in the Northeast. Domestic Mallards, also quite common, are splotched with varying amounts of black and white, creating a piebald appearance.

      LOOK FOR a metallic green head, a chestnut-brown breast, black curly tail feathers, and a violet-blue speculum.

      American Black Duck

      Anas rubripes

      male

      The American Black Duck is a large dabbling duck and one of the darkest in North America. From tail to breast, it is uniformly blackish brown. Its face is gray-brown, distinguished only by a dark crown and a thin, dark eye stripe. Black ducks do have white feathers that line the lower surface of their wings and contrast sharply with the duck’s dark body, but they can be seen only when the bird flies. Otherwise, they remain hidden

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