I took this picture of some ducks for you to identify. In the image, there are a few identifying characteristics that are unique to this very unusual species. On Friday around noon, I will reveal the species.
Hint: It’s not a North American species.
Update: These are pink-eared ducks (Malacorhynchus membranaceus)
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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.
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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has released a report on “Trends in Duck Breeding Populations, 1955-2009.” According to the report, “the total duck population,” excluding scoters, eiders, long-tailed ducks, mergansers, and wood ducks, shows an estimated “13% increase over last year’s estimate of 37.3± 0.6 million birds and was 25% above the long-term average.” Even the number of Canvasbacks are up. The report can be found here. More from The Chattanoogan:
In addition to extensive grassland cover, one of the most important elements in duck breeding success is the amount of water present in portions of prairie and parkland Canada and north-central United States. Total pond counts for the United States and Canada combined showed 6.4 million ponds, a 45 percent increase from last year’s estimate, and 31 percent above the long-term average. Habitat conditions in 2009 were mostly a good news scenario. Conditions across the southern portions of the Canadian and U.S prairies improved considerably from 2008.
However, drought remained in some parts of the traditional survey area, including western portions of the Prairie Pothole Region. Southern Alberta saw a decrease in ponds of 19 percent. This area contrasted sharply with record amounts of snow and rainfall in the Dakotas. The north-central U.S., which includes the Dakotas, saw a 108 percent increase in total ponds. Above average snowfall this winter and considerable precipitation in late spring recharged wetlands across the Dakotas and eastern Montana.
The Canadian parklands received below-normal precipitation, but waterfowl habitat in this area continued to benefit from above-normal precipitation received in 2007. In the Boreal Forest, spring break-up was delayed as much as three weeks and most large lakes across the region remained frozen in early June. Overall habitat conditions in this important region were considered good.
The FWS spring surveys provide the scientific basis for many management programs across the continent including the setting of hunting regulations. The four Flyway Councils will meet in late July to recommend and adopt the season structure and bag limits for 2009-10. Individual states will make their specific selections within a federal framework of season length, bag limit, and outside dates. Hunters should check their state’s rules for final dates.
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Photo source for attribution. The author or licensor of this image does not endorse my work or me and their image is protected under an attribution license.
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Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park—located in Scotland Neck, North Carolina—is offering a “new membership package just for photographers. When you buy a Photographer’s Membership, you’ll receive free admission to Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park for one year, as well as free admission to the North Carolina Zoo, all three NC Aquariums and the WNC Nature Center.” With this membership, you can tour North Carolina from the coast to the mountains (or from the mountains to the coast) and visit the various aquariums, nature center, and zoological parks. Furthermore, the “Photographer’s Membership” allows members to “make arrangements to visit the park an hour before it opens to the public and/or stay an hour after park closing!” These are the best times to view the waterfowl, since they’re most active during these times.
The Waterfowl Park offers a unique opportunity to get close to and observe “over 180 species of birds– more than half of the world’s known species of ducks, geese and swans.” Here are some images I took at Sylvan Heights Waterfowl, while I was a volunteer. The first three images show some juvenile African white-backed ducks (Thalassornis leuconotus) and the last four are of a white-faced whistling duck (Dendrocygna viduata).
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People who shoot trumpeter swans sometimes do it out of uncaring or malice.
I’ve seen both tundra swans and snow geese in flight, and I don’t understand how hunters can confuse trumpeter swans with snow geese. The St. Joseph News-Press gives an account from the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area, Missouri:
According to a Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) press release, eight trumpeter swans arrived at the Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area in southern Boone County (near Columbia) on the night of Dec. 29.
The following morning, an unknown number of guys hunting snow geese allegedly failed to identify their targets and killed five of the swans. After being caught, the violators apparently told conservation agents they “mistook” them for snow geese.
What’s odd about this particular incident and the hunters’ explanation about their case of mistaken identity was the fact that conservation agents were immediately notified of the incident by law-abiding waterfowl hunters who were nearby and witnessed the shootings. They readily identified the birds as trumpeter swans.
For those who may not be familiar with trumpeter swans, or snow geese for that matter, both birds are predominately white, but that’s where the similarities end. Trumpeters, like other swans, have a very long neck relative to their body size and the feathers of adults are all white.
Trumpeters are the largest native birds in North America with wing spans approaching 8 feet. They average 55 to 65 inches in length and tip the scales at around 20 to 25 pounds. The birds fly with their long necks outstretched. They also have black bills and black legs and feet.
Compare this to snow geese during their white phase (snow geese go through different color phases), which have easily recognizable black wing feathers and much shorter necks. Snow geese also have pink-colored legs and bills.
Snow geese are also significantly smaller than swans, averaging only 29 to 31 inches in length and tipping the scales at a mere 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 pounds. The wingspan of an average snow goose is nearly 3 feet less than a trumpeter swan. The two different waterfowl species should have been easily distinquished, especially within shotgun range.
Jim D. Wilson, an ornithologist with conservation department, said it best in a press release in November of 1997 when he said “People who shoot trumpeter swans sometimes do it out of uncaring or malice.”
The Chicago Tribune gives another account of supposed mistaken identity from the Mermet Lake Conservation Area, Illinois:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say hunters thought they were shooting at a snow goose but actually killed a rare trumpeter swan at a conservation area in far southern Illinois.
Supervisor Chris McGinness says the bird was shot when it flew over two duck blinds in a public hunting area at the Mermet Lake Conservation Area.
McGinness says three duck hunters – two in one blind and one in another – shot at the swan that they misidentified as a snow goose. He says all three men have expressed remorse.
Federal investigators will determine which of the three is responsible for the swan’s death.
On identifying trumpeter swans from snow geese consider the Trumpeter Swan Society’s swan/goose identification brochure and this information from Today’s THV, AR:
Trumpeter swans bear only a superficial resemblance to snow geese, as the swans are several times larger than snow geese. Trumpeter swans are all white. Snow geese have black wing tips.
Trumpeter swans are the largest birds native to North America. Adult males measure 57 to 64 inches long and weigh around 25 pounds. Adult females range from 55 to 60 inches and weigh approximately 20 pounds. Their wingspans can approach 8 feet, and they fly with their extremely long necks outstretched.
About 5,000 trumpeter swans live in the Midwest area of the United States, most of them in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan with some moving south into Missouri.
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Photo source for attribution here, here, here, here, and here. The authors or licensors of these images do not endorse my work or me and their images are protected under an attribution license.
