Week Two - Ducks, Geese, and Swans Flashcards
Common Loon
Like grebes, it can vary in buoyancy and appears to be low on the water.
Black head and neck with notable striped collar. White breast with drak black and white flecks.
Greater White-Fronted Goose
Smaller than Canada Goose.
Grayish brown body, head, and neck, except for a small white batch surrounding the base of the bill.
Colloquially known as “Speckle-Belly.”
Bright orange bill and legs distinguishes it from all but snow goose.
Snow Goose
Smaller than Canada Goose, most often all white!
Has a color phase (of mostly greyish blue body and white head + neck) known as “Blue Goose.”
Prominent black tomium and white wingtips.
Cackling Goose
Mini version of the Canada Goose! Nearly identical plumage, but a smaller body, shorter neck, and stubbier bill.
Look at bill size relative to head - lower ratio of bill to head length than Canada.
Bit more grey on the back and gold on the breast.
The call is similar to Canada’s, but nasaly and squeaky.
Canada Goose
One of the most abundant Wisconsin birds.
Longer bill-to-head ratio than Cackling.
Looks more…severe?
Deep and less nasaly than Cackling.
Mute Swan
Introduced from Eurasia.
Orange bill with a bulbous black saddle at the base.
Often holds neck in an S-shape and fluffs up it’s back wings, like a swan boat.
Trumpeter Swan
Completely white with dark bill and legs, like the Tundra Swan.
Usually lacks a yellow spot below the eye.
The top of the trumpeter swan bill is evenly angled, like the hypotenuse of a triangle.
White feathers on it’s forehead forms a “v” like a widow’s peak, and is significantly larger than the Tundra.
Tundra Swan
Smallest swan in Wisconsin.
Has bare black bills and legs, and no black wingtips.
Usually has a small yellow spot near the eye.
Slightly concave upper bill, and eyes appear to be separated from the back skin at the base of the bill.
Wood Duck
One of our most colorful birds, with an iridescent green head with a shaggy, down-swept crest and a bright orange bill and legs.
The female is brown and dull but has a dull, shaggy crest and a white “tear-drop” around the eye.
Male sounds like an up-slurred “ZZZZZZZZZIIIIPPP!”
Females make a loud, two-syallable “OO-EEK!” scream when flushed.
Gadwall
Called the “Grey Mallard” by hunters, and our greyest dabbling duck,
Grey body and grey bill with a contrasting brown head.
Note the black tail!
American Wigeon
Called the “Baldplate” because of the white patch on it’s forehead and crown that looks like a baldspot.
Brownish head, with a dark green patch extending back from the eye to the nape.
Like Gadwall, it has a grey bill. Note the prominent tail.
American Black Duck
Like a female Mallard, but the body is a dark chocolate brown.
The bill is yellowish, with no black marking, and the speculum is blue but has no white edging.
Lighter brown head contrasts with a darker body.
Mallard
Male has iridescent green head with white ring around the base of the neck.
Female is dull mottled brown with light orangish bill and dark black markings in the middle of the upper mandible.
Female sounds like a stard quack and a loud, descending wakwakwakwak.
Male makes a series of lower and softer quacks.
Blue-Winged Teal
One of our smallest ducks.
Named for chalky-blue patch on the forewing.
Blueish-grey head with a prominent white crescent at the base of the bill.
Northern Shoveler
Long, flat, spatula-like bill.
Male has an iridescent green head, white breast, and rust or rufous sides.
Female looks like a female mallard, bu the bill differentiates it.
Northern Pintail
Looks lanky cause it has such a long neck!
Chestnut head and nape with a white breast and neclk, extending up to the side of the head.
Grey body, white hip patch, and long, needly tail.
Green-Winged Teal
Brown to rust-colored head with a green patch extending back from the eye.
White “spur” extending up the front of the side. Cream-colored tail.
Body is primarily grey!
Canvasback
Rusty red head, black breast, and light grey back.
Bill is longer and more evenly sloped than the readhead.
Readhead
Rusty red head, medium grey body.
Upper bill is slightly concave so it has a “ski-jump” profile.
Ring-Necked Duck
The pinkish thing at the base of it’s neck is barely visible in the field.
Dark purplish head, and both the breast and back are all black, unlike any of our other ducks.
Whitish ring near tip of the bill.
Greater Scaup
Has a rounded crown with no peak, and a harger, longer, and wider bill than the lesser scaup.
Lesser Scaup
Colloquially known as “bluebill”.
Has a purplish, glossy head and light grey back and sides, similar to the Ring-Neck Duck.
Top of it’s head is not round, but a notable peak near the back of the crown.
Bufflehead
Similar to the Common Goldeneye, with a glossy greenish-purple head, but has a large white spot behind the eye that extends up into the crown.
Common Goldeneye
Glossy green head with a prominent round, white spot behind the bill.
Solid white on the breast and sides but the back is black with blind-like white slats.
Ruddy Duck
A large white patch on their cheek with a darker head and crown.
Rusty body with a bright, bluish bill.
A long still tail.
Hooded Merganser
Male has a striking black head with a white crest it can raise and lower. Has a black and white bar at the front of the sides and a grey back.
The female is a dull brown with a slightly lighter brown crest.
Red-Breasted Merganser
Male has a more wild-looking crest than the common merganser.
Male has a reddish breast and grey, finely barred sides.
Female is duller in both head and body color. Has less of a contrast between head and neck vs. the female Common Merganser.
Common Merganser
Long, sleek bodies, long necks, and long thin bills.
Male is mostly white but with a glossy green head and a sown-swept shaggy crest and light back.
Female is uniformly grey, except for a white throat and lighter whitish breast.
Pied-Billed Grebe
Small, with a white bill and a black ring near the tip.
It also has a black throat.
Rhythymic bleating call of single-or-double syllable notes with a liquid quality that is repeated - “Kow-kow-kow-kow-kow-kow!”
Horned Grebe
Black head with thick, golden tufts that look like ears.
Note the rust-colored neck and sides and black back. Similar to eared grebe, but that has a black neck.
Red-Necked Grebe
Rusty neck similar to the Horned Grebe, but has a much larger, yellowish, and spear-like bill and a white cheek patch that contrasts with the black crown.
Eared Grebe
Looks very similar to the Horned Grebe, but has a black neck and a golden yellow ear tuft.
Tufts appear to be more sparse than the horned grebe.
