I am working on a project, and there is some standing water on it where some ducks and geese have been hanging out.
My brother and I have been discussing and trying to figure out what type of ducks these are. We can't have a camera on-site, so I couldn't get a picture, but will do my best to describe them.
Thety are aboutr average size of a greenhead (mallard). They have an orangish color bill, and their body is kinda light brown/grayish. One crazy thing that we noticed is that we saw two flying around and one landed on a crane that was parked over in one area that was not being used, and the other one landed on the cross bar of a power pole.
I have looked on the Ducks Unlimited website, and a few other duck websites, but cannot seem to find a picture that resembles them.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jimmy
Sounds like may be a Gadwall
:woot:
Don't ask me. I have trouble distinguishing between some ducks and some geeses. Then, add the ones that are techinically neither, but, something akin to pelicans, egrets and some other name I can't pronounce correctly.
I saw a Canada goose get hit by a car. It flew in front of the car, collided with the windshield and slid off of the freeway stone cold dead. The car pulled over and had a huge dent in the windshield.
Most ducks I know of don't roost in trees or anything else. Wrong kind of feet I guess. It's either walking around on the ground, or in the water. So if they're sitting on power poles or other things, my guess it's not a duck.
Lots of other wierd water birds. They're just fun to watch I think. I know none of them taste any good, so I just stick to watching them.
I knew a guy, once, who's job it was; to shoot dead chickens out of a special gun, like a tee shirt shooter, at windshields of Boeing airplanes.....:-O
I hit a goose with a Cessna 182. Fortunately it hit the lower cowl; I think it could have gone through the plexiglass windscreen.
U.P. Memories
Very good point, Wayne. Ducks don't have tree feet except for the one I saw walking up the side of a tree like a woodpecker one time. That was on a smelt drinking night, though, so I can't be sure.
What you are wrong about is that ducks don't taste good.
Don
U.P. Memories
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_Duck
Not all ducks dislike trees. Wood ducks nest in them.
U.P. Memories
Agree. I have seen wood ducks land on mandmade objects.
U.P. Memories
I had one pop out of a tree at head height, about 3 foot in front of me once. Was a genuine WTF moment, even more so that it was on North Terrace in Adelaide (Busy CBD road).
It could be one of the Mexican tree duck species that have been summering in the GOM coastal states (esp. LA and TX) the last few years. They have longer legs than a mallard but are slightly smaller in size than a mallard too. I think there are two species Mexican black bellied whistler
or the Fulvous Tree Duck
that have been summering (breeding) along the GOM coast.
They are ok table fair, but most have migrated south by the time regular duck season has started.
We are hoping the LDWF will start to include them in during our teal season.
Joe-Nathan,
That looks very close to what we saw. I saw a picture of that species but dismissed it because of the home range identified on the website that I was looking at.
Their markings were a little different, but that is pretty close.
Thanks to everyone for their help.
Jimmy
U.P. Memories & Wood Ducks
gotcha me the Wood Duck. I think that's why thus the namesake. Not sure if its high up in trees though, but more just not on the ground. Likely a taller bushy pine, to keep from the ground predators during nesting.
Kind of an odd critter. Very evasive and tough to find, or ever even see. And IMVHO are one of the most beautiful birds around. Very colorful with blue, red, green feathers, with an odd feather cap thingy sticking off thier head. Almsot look like a branch on some bush during bloom. Quite smaller than mallards though.
One friend of mine shot one by mistake. He felt bad and had it mounted on a piece of drifwood, and it truely is beautiful. I'll try and get the pix from him.
They are spreading their summer range further north every year. So it is possible.
