Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Try again with the ducks...

Sorry about that. Still have trouble posting pics. What kind of ducks are these?

Fishman Dan ,not sure of color of their heads, but they look red,If so then they look like redhead drakes.Smallpond.

Lesser Scaup or Redhead.

"Bluebill" or Lesser scaup (Aythya affinis)

Avg Length: M 17", F 16.5"
Avg Weight: M 1.8 lbs., F 1.6 lbs.
They look like this in the back of the ATV



Breeding: Lesser scaup have one of the most extensive breeding ranges of North American ducks. Their breeding range extends from the northern USA through the prairie pothole region, to the Bering Sea, with the largest breeding populations occurring in the boreal forest of Canada. They typically breed near interior lakes, ponds, and sedge meadows. Deeper, more permanent wetlands are preferred. Lesser scaup prefer wetland habitats with emergent vegetation, such as bulrushes, since they often harbor abundant populations of aquatic insect larvae. Females nest in close proximity to open water and lay an average of 9 eggs.
Migrating and Wintering: The majority of lesser scaup migrate through the Central and Mississippi Flyways to wintering areas along the Gulf of Mexico, and coastal Florida. Fresh and brackish water wetlands and open bays are preferred wintering habitats. Lesser scaup common winter visitor to Central America, the Caribbean and northern Colombia; occasional winter visitor Ecuador, Venezuela and Trinidad (Scott and Carbonell, 1986).

Population: Lesser and greater scaup are counted together, because they are difficult to distinguish during aerial surveys. Lesser scaup are estimated to constitute roughly 89% of the continental scaup population. Scaup populations have steadily declined since the 1980s. Contaminants, lower female survival, and reduced recruitment due to changes in breeding habitat or food resources are thought to be the primary factors contributing to the decline, although cause are little understood. The 2001 breeding population survey was approximately 3.3 million birds, an 8% decrease from last year's estimate.

Food habits: Lesser scaup dive to feed on seeds of pondweeds, widgeon grass, wild rice, sedges, and bulrushes. They also feed on crustaceans, mollusks, aquatic insects, and small fishes.



Description: Lesser and greater scaup are often found together. The smaller size of the lesser scaup is very obvious. Lesser scaup also have a smaller less round, purple-tinted head than greater scaup. Males: Male lesser scaup have a glossy black head with a purple cast. The neck, breast, and upper mantle are glossy black. Vermiculations on the sides and flanks are olive-brown and contrast with the white chest and belly. The back is light gray with broad heavy vermiculations of sooty black. The tail, upper and under-tail coverts are black. The wing has a white speculum and the inner primaries are light brown, becoming darker towards the tips and outer primaries. The bill is a light blue-gray with a black nail, the legs and feet are gray, and the iris is yellow. In courtship the male utters weak whistling notes. Females: Female lesser scaup have a brownish head, neck, and chest, and white oval patches around their bills. The back, rump, and scapulars are dark brown and the speculum is white. The bill is similar to that of the male, but slightly duller, the legs and feet are gray, and the iris is yellow. The female has weaker growl than greater scaup.

Opppps .... forgot the "Before" photo and only posted the "after".



For whatever it's worth, Bluebills are in trouble as a species. They are a diving duck as opposed to a puddler like mallards and pintails. Scau[p populations have been steadily declining to a point where the daily bag limits have been substantially reduced and they may possibly become protected this season because their migration counts continue to dwindle.

It's unusual for Bluebills to spend any significant time on ponds because the water isn't large or deep enough to support their favorite foods like submerged celery. The three that we took in the picture above were the only Bluebills we saw on our properties in the past two seasons.

Cappy-
It seems like every time I went to the pond this winter there were 40-50 of them. Some of them stuck around until March. You'll have to come take a look next fall/winter, since we're so close by (Honey Grove). The pond is about 10-12 acres.
Also has some really small ducks that were very skittish, and fast as lightning. Any idea what they might have been?
Dan

The smaller ducks sound like one of the species of teal.

Dan -- I ended up with an answer on your first post, rather than here. As for the smaller ducks, if they are puddlers, then teal is the likely answer. However, if they are another diver, like the scaup, then the small, quick one might be the bufflehead.

I don't know anything about ducks but I have been wondering for about two years what these are.

buffleheads

They frequently migrate through around the same time as the lesser scaups and ring necks.

http://www.ducks.org/waterfowling/gallery/index.asp

Teal are sometimes referred top as feathered rockets because of their great speed. In addition, their body size is about that of a Robin or large Dove. An extremely small target zipping by at 40 mph plus.


The two dawgs and I managed to pick up 4 of them on our opening day morning. The season went straight down hill from there with the gosh awful drought areound N TX last year.

Those little black and white ducks ARE Buffleheads. The drake is a very pretty little fella and they are almost as fast and acrobatic as Teal. However, they are on opposite ends of the eating spectrum. Teal are puddlers and perhaps the tastiest of all ducks. Buffies are divers and I think they taste like muddy liver!