Head and bill shape The mallard has a thick bill with orange blotches on the top. male and female Gadwall, Titchwell (Norfolk, UK), 9th February 2008 . The Smallest Bird on Earth Weighs Less than a Penny! They were observed for at least an hour, and my guess at the time was that they were around two days old. The male resembles a male common gadwall in eclipse plumage, save for some white speckling on the breast and back. The mallard has a round head that is dark with black eye-line. There is certainly no shortage of loose male Mallard groups patrolling the area in spring, seemingly hell-bent on cornering and mating with anything, as long as it’s vaguely brown-looking! The breeding male is a beautifully patterned grey, with a black rear end and a brilliant white speculum (= distinctive wing patch) , obvious in flight or at rest. The young at this stage were still unable to fly, for the first two hours the female Gadwall did an outstanding job of distracting the dogs from her scattered brood, skilfully managing to feign injury and stay a just few yards ahead of the excited dogs until she eventually tired. We have also put together a list of fun Gadwall t-shirts, Gadwall bird patches,bird houses, bird feeders, binoculars, stickers and other fun bird watching items. Here are our favorite bird feeders for your backyard. Gadwall, Holkham Park Lake (Norfolk, UK), 1st December 2012 During the observed fledging period of 45+ days, the adult female did a brilliant job of guiding and protecting her brood. Although it resembles a Mallard, its bill is significantly thinner. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Males are intricately patterned with gray, brown, and black; females resemble female Mallards, although with a thinner, darker bill. An update for the 29th July showed all eight juveniles alive and well. As far as I could see she managed to keep them all together and intact, despite the attentions of an accomplished duckling-snatching Peregrine Falcon and numerous Grey Herons and Buzzards, right up to the dog attack on 9th July. Female gadwalls are similar to males, but have a mottled brown appearance, a yellowish bill with dark spots and a smaller white speculum. The females are light brown, with plumage much like a female Mallard. Its diet mostly consists of aquatic plants like milfoil, invertebrates, and seeds. POWERED BY MERLIN. My only question in regards to the parentage of the ducklings would be in the structure of the head and bill, which may well reflect a lack of experience with the range of structural variation in juvenile Gadwall on my part, but to me all the full grown ducklings show a more Mallard-shaped head profile, lacking the steeper forehead and noticeably thinner bill of typical Gadwall. Dabbles on the surface of the water and up-ends to reach aquatic vegetation. In the Gadwall, even the male looks plain at a distance; only a close view reveals subtle but beautiful colors. Perplexing Plumage - Hairy vs Downy Woodpeckers - Bird Boy, This Week in Birding 44 by Charlotte Wasylik | Nemesis Bird, http://birdsinyourbackyard.blogspot.ca/2013/11/weekly-what-bird_16.html, Crowsnest Pass and the Bob Creek Wildland. Is proudly committed to advancing the understanding, appreciation and conservation of Canada's wild birds and their habitats. Can you guess my Weekly What Bird? Gadwall, Titchwell (Norfolk, UK), 9th June 2004 . We use all of these bird feeders currently. Your email address will not be published. Females have a thin orange edge to their dark bills. (and this should go under ‘Body’, as well as #3). Greenway, James C. Jr. (1967): Washington Island Gadwall. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Some presumed males especially, undergo extremely odd and puzzling plumage stages and I find it difficult/impossible to rule out with any certainty possible backcrosses and intersexes. Gadwall breed near seasonal and semi-permanent wetlands, mainly in the grasslands and mixed Prairie regions of the United States and Canada. Not necessarily! Kid & Adult Bird Watching Starter Pack Subscription, Kids Bird Watching Starter Pack Subscription, Please Share to Help Us Get Kids Bird Watching, 12 Month Prepaid Bird Watching Subscription - 3 patches a month, Kids Bird Watching Entry Level Monthly Subscription. this is text content for FIRST frontpage widget. terms. I use the term ‘pure’, as with a probable first breeding record at a site where there is a history of hybrid pairings, there will always be a strong well founded suspicion of Brewer’s Duck (named by John James Audubon after his ornithologist friend Thomas Brewer, as at the time Audubon thought that the bird shot in Louisiana was a new species, not a hybrid Mallard x Gadwall). Formerly known as Washington Island—Luther mentions a supposed occurrence on "New York Island", which is merely another old name of Teraina, however. These 4 bird houses have become our favorites. The patches are durable and can be sewn on or ironed on to just about anything. Many wild Gadwall already show some diluted Mallard-esque plumage characters in some plumages and many female Gadwall show varying amounts of white in the tail, as does the Walmsley female. The Gadwall breeds in the northern areas of Europe and Asia and central North America. Substantial numbers also breed in wetland habitats of the Great Basin. http://birdsinyourbackyard.blogspot.ca/2013/11/weekly-what-bird_16.html, Your email address will not be published. For the last pointer, the mallard has a blue speculum patch. To help support bird conservation we donate 10 percent to bird conservation activities. The Gadwall has a two-toned head, which is dark above and light below. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. The adult female shows a good amount of chestnut to the wing coverts (not all females do) and each one of her ducklings shows varying amounts of chestnut on the coverts. Please Enjoy Bird Watching Academy & Camp! To go back to the question of proving the parentage of this brood beyond any reasonable doubt to enable the record to be accepted as a first breeding record for the county, the fact that no male Gadwall was seen around this brood is to be expected. Once he has gotten the female’s attention, they both bob their heads and touch bills as a form of courting.
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