Duck ID on the Wing

Species identification is one of duck hunting’s biggest challenges. With species driven harvest management, hunters run the risk of going over the limit if they can’t identify species, and in the case of mallards, knowing gender, before pulling the trigger.

Additionally, many waterfowlers practice voluntary restraint and do their best to let the hens pass, only shooting drakes. Other methods of voluntary restraint include passing on less desirable ducks and taking only the better tasting specimens.

Whether you are motivated only by the law, or also by voluntary restraint, you need to know what kind of ducks are coming in before you can decide whether to shoot. This article is geared toward knowing a few key features per species in order to identify fast flying ducks at a distance.

Before getting into the details of some of the more commonly hunted duck species, it’s wise to consider various contexts that will help you identify ducks in fight. The single best thing you can do for identifying ducks is hunt with the sun at your back to keep it out of your eyes and shining on the birds.

It’s not hard to identify the species of a backlit duck by silhouette and wingbeat, but it’s very difficult to tell hens from drakes under such circumstances. Traditionally duck hunters have set their decoys with the wind at their back, thus looking straight into the sun on a morning with a northwest wind. In that case, set your decoys for a cross wind and face either northeast or southwest if possible.

It’s also much easier to identify birds in open fields, big lakes, or prairie type settings. A forested backdrop, especially around a small body of water, obscures some of the subtle features and movements a hunter needs to key on, not to mention the delayed onset of dawn and early fall of darkness each day.

Knowing something of duck habits can also help you figure things out. For instance, a successfully nesting hen is the last duck to molt in the summer. When they come out of the molt in the early fall they want to hook up with other ducks to migrate south and thus single hens are very receptive to decoys.

In a pair of ducks, the hen usually leads the way. This is also common in flocks. Hens have the distinctive quack, whereas drake voices normally resemble a whistle. Learning the voices of each duck species can be a real help for identification.

As a general guideline, diving ducks fly lower to the water than dabbling ducks. Even within the divers, it is said that canvasbacks will generally fly a little higher than bluebills or redheads and that buffleheads and goldeneyes frequently fly lowest to the water. Divers always need a running start to fly, somewhat similar to an airplane.

Dabbling ducks, or puddlers, often fly much higher than divers and will commonly circle overhead, “parachuting” in once they decide to commit. Dabblers have the ability to leap vertically from the water and take off like a helicopter.

A flock of puddle ducks normally consists of all the same species, but it’s fairly common to see the odd redhead in with some bluebills or other mixed flocks of divers.

Hen diving ducks look very similar, with the exception of the wedge-shaped head on a canvasback. Identifying hen redheads, scaup, and ringnecks is done either by size or by association with drakes in the flock. Positive identification can be tricky once reduced to possession, but absolute differences exist.

The only way to get good at duck identification is to practice. A good mentor is a huge asset, but absent that, just pick up the binoculars and start learning. Watching ducks in the off season, like spring migration time, is a great way to learn duck ID without costing you a shooting opportunity – or a ticket.

Scouting outings are another perfect opportunity to practice duck ID. Don’t settle for scouting generic ducks, use the binoculars to figure out exactly what kind of ducks are using the area. This will also sharpen your knowledge of different habitats used by different species in your area.

Also use binoculars to identify ducks that are a quarter mile away or farther. Drop the glass and hold still if they start coming toward you inside a quarter mile, but otherwise keep the glass on them until you know what they are.

	Black duck Similar to mallards except for coloration. Black ducks and hen mallards can be mistaken, but the black duck is much darker in the body and the only white on a black duck is the underside of the wings.
	Wood duck The drake is very dark overall, except the white belly. Even eclipse drakes are usually distinguishable from hens. Hens also have a white belly, but are light brown in the body. Both have tails with a long squared off appearance. Under poor visibility, wood ducks could be confused with ringnecked ducks, but the ringneck is much chunkier and less erratic in flight.
	Scaup Primarily a black and white duck with grayish vermiculation on the back and white on the belly. Experience and great lighting are needed to distinguish lessers from greaters on the wing. Size and amount of white wing feathers are the indicators.
	Wigeon and Gadwall These medium sized dabblers are often confused with each other, especially in eclipse plumage. To identify in flight, focus on the white wing patches – wigeons have white on the shoulder with a green speculum, whereas gadwalls are the only puddle duck with a white speculum.
	Redhead This duck is variable in size and can range from almost as big as canvasbacks to about the same size as a scaup. The only commonality to the canvasback is it’s head color. Its head shape is round like scaup and thus more likely to confuse with them when viewing conditions are less than ideal. Mixed flocks with canvasbacks or scaup are common.
	Pintail Pintails are very long and slender – they look pointed at both ends. The drake is all white underneath except the black rump and the brown head. The hen is just a smaller brown version of the drake.
	Ring-necked duck Easily confused with scaup, especially early in the season. Ringnecks are smaller and not quite as chunky as scaup. They are overall a darker bird, especially on the back. Under good conditions, the white rings at both ends of the bill are noticeable. Ringers are the most vocal of the diving ducks.
	Spoonbills, blue wing teal, and green wing teal All have very similar wing coloring. If you can get a profile view of the spooner, its oversized bill is obvious. The spoonbill is bigger in the body than a teal and it’s long wingspan can give the impression of a mallard due to similarities in plumage. The blue wing teal is small and fast. Very few drake blue wings will come out of eclipse plumage during northern states’ hunting seasons. The green wing teal is our smallest puddler, about the size of a pigeon. The drake green wings are often distinguishable by their cinnamon red head with green mask. All three frequently travel in large flocks
	Mallards The biggest dabbler and most abundant North American duck. It’s difficult to mistake a fully plumed drake with it’s green head, yellow bill, and white neck ring. In low light conditions, the white neck ring stands out and the voice of the greenhead, as well as the hen, are unmistakable. Drake mallards still in eclipse plumage can be very difficult to distinguish from hens while in the air.
	Canvasback The largest of our divers, it’s identifying feature is the wedge-shaped head. Secondary indicators include a long neck and light gray back / wing feathers.