The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge.
We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
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November 21, 2020
Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest
On our last excursion in the boat I was lucky enough to see four Long tailed ducks! They are uncommon in these waters. Strictly winter migrants. As deep divers they also tend to hang out farther from beaches than most of the other crustacean/mollusk-feeding diving ducks (like Buffleheads, Goldeneyes and Harlequin ducks). I’ve heard reports they flock but I never see more than a few at a time. All this means I rarely see them.
It was quite exciting to catch sight of this little group, even at a distance. I don’t like to change course in the boat to approach closer, to avoid spooking birds into flight, so these pictures are the best I could do.
Besides just how beautiful they are in shape and plumage color pattern, I’m always interested in the lifestyle and family dynamics of birds. It’s informative to be able to tell gender and age.
Amongst these four ducks, who is everybody?
Well, for Long tailed ducks the most obvious ID is the adult males: they have long tails. Nobody else has them, even young males. None of these four had long tails, so it became a question of hen, immature female, immature male.
I went to Birds of North America’s Macaulay Library where they keep albums of photos submitted by observers and vetted for accuracy. Here are some labeled pictures I found.
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You can see what huge variation there is between seasonal plumage, and among the immature looks of these ducks since they apparently change gradually over the year. According to Cornell Ornithology, immature/juvenile (terms often if sometimes inaccurately used interchangeably) males and females are similar, with the most reliable differentiating factor being bill color. Like adult males, immature males have a partly pink bill. How much dark and light on their heads, or pattern of patches, varies considerably though. Cornell’s discussion includes:
Complex seasonal variations; unlike other waterfowl, has 3 plumages/yr (Basic, Supplemental, Alternate), the first 2 of which are acquired at 2 different stages.
…...
Superficially, juvenile resembles female, but has sides of breast dark brown and lacks brownish-black mark on sides of face; blue-grey bill acquires pink in male (from Oct).
Juvenile plumage similar to winter adult female. Overall, pale markings of head and neck not as well defined, and flanks washed with brown. Cheek-patch brown, not blackish brown, and not sharply defined. Darker portions of plumage washed with browns. Becomes whiter on head and plumage markings better defined as winter progresses. Young male begins to acquire some elements of adult male plumage in fall, including pink band on bill, but not to extent attained by adults.
birdsoftheworld.org/...
So looking at the four ducks I saw a little zoomed in, let’s see what we can. Features like shade of breast feathers is of marginal usefulness, and forget about eye color!
One is very definitely an immature male, the second from left by his pinkish bill.
The duck on left has more sharply defined color patches, and darker black plumage, so she might be a nonbreeding hen. She might be a youngster though. The two in front have more brownish dark plumage so I’m thinking more likely immature females.
So the best I can do, given my pictures and ID info is that we have a small flock of ducks hatched out this summer, one male and 3 females. Or possibly a hen accompanying juv/immature ducks, who were ducklings not long ago.
This tells me there are Long tailed ducks that had a successful breeding season last summer up in the far north Arctic tundra, and found their way down here to the PacificNorthwest after fledging. This latitude is about as far south as they come on this coast. I hope they find lots of crabs and clams to feast on while they’re here over the winter.
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Heavily overcast with a light breeze today in the PNW islands. Temps in low 40s. Sprinkles last night.
What’s up in nature in your area today?
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