Gadwall

Incoming~

This is a gadwall, or Mareca strepera. Gadwalls live in the northern hemisphere, spanning most of North America and Eurasia as well as the North African coast and the Nile basin. An extinct subspecies of gadwalls, Coues’s gadwall is known by only two juveniles from Kiribati — smack in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Photo taken: Apr. 16, 2022

Mallard Silhouettes

Getting ready to land~

These are mallards, or Anas platyrhynchos. Originally, I thought that these were American black ducks, but one helpful trick to tell black ducks apart from mallard hens is that a mallard hen will have two white lines outlining the blue patch on its wings, as you can see on the duck in the center, while a black duck will not.

Photo taken: Sept. 4, 2021

Mallard

In this position, she looks almost like a seaplane splashing down~

This is a mallard, or Anas platyrhynchos. If you notice, there’s a dark spot on her bill, which is completely normal and harmless, though I happened across one person in a bit of a panic, saying, “Help! Duck’s beak seems to be rotting?” in a forum post.

Photo taken: Apr. 4, 2021

Pied-billed Grebe

Not the best quality/resolution, but the back feathers still look plenty soft — people used to use them for earmuffs among other things.

This is a pied-billed grebe, or Podilymbus podiceps. They’re not listed at any level of endangered, nor are they at any particular risk in general, but they are in decline in the northeastern corner of the US. For some reason, though, we (as in scientists/ornithologists) don’t seem to know why this is happening, although habitat loss was and/or is certainly a contributing factor.

Photo taken: Sept. 4, 2021

Wood Ducks

The little ones are learning to swim~

These are wood ducks, or Aix sponsa. While the males are extremely colorful, the females and ducklings can’t quite compare. (Also, using do-weep-do-weep to describe their call is an… amusing choice… Duck: “You. You over there. CRY.“)

Photo taken: Jun. 20, 2021

Mallard

A bit of a weird position, but at least I was able to capture a few droplets.

This is a mallard, or Anas platyrhynchos. This one was at the end of its take-off sequence, but it’s interesting watching their legs hang out from underneath them as they begin to take off.

Photo taken: Apr. 4, 2021

Blue-headed Mallards

Well, actually, there is (officially) no such thing as a “blue-headed mallard” — these are just mallards, or Anas platyrhynchos. According to this post, their heads were shining blue instead of green because these males did not have enough testosterone, which is correlated with the amount of yellow pigment produced in their head feathers. This was, however, just a theory and I have no proof regarding its veracity.

As for the blotchy feather pattern, this is what it looks like when males molt into their breeding plumage.

Photo taken: Jun. 20, 2021

Mallards

I don’t know how I did this, but I find the contrast between the detailed foreground and the blurred/oily background to be quite interesting.

These are mallards, or Anas platyrhynchos. They feed on vegetation at the bottom, hence the blurry green stuff hanging from the male’s bill.

Photo taken: May 16, 2021