What bird is this?

[McCRIZZLEY]

Far right one. Pretty solid gray body and wings. Long orange beak. cinnamon head that had a little bit of a scoop on the back of it.

I have been seeing a lot of these in a newer area I hunt, figured I should find out what it is before I shoot one, then found this one dead on the bank. Brought it home to identify and coming up with nothing...

[McCRIZZLEY]

Having some serious issues posting pictures today. Figured I would try to work around it and post in a comment... still not working.

[dbmickle]

Sounds like a hen common merg from the description

[McCRIZZLEY]

The bottom of my screen just says uploading, then waiting for huntingwa.com.... then goes to a white blank page and stays there. Pics are .jpeg and only 1,100kb. I also tried resizing to make more squarish. Guess you guys will never know and stealth bird will haunt your day and clutter your feed. Might try updating tomorrow or from a different computer.

[McCRIZZLEY]

Sounds like a hen common merg from the description

just googled that and I'm pretty sure you're right. I saw a few drawings of them, but the beak didn't seam long enough. Looking at real images though I think you are spot on. Thanks!

[dbmickle]

That bird actually looks like a hen red breasted merg, I've never shot one, but it looks a tad different than a common

[buckcanyonlodge]

Some hunters call those " Shoot and Release " ducks                   mergansers

[lokidog]

That bird actually looks like a hen red breasted merg, I've never shot one, but it looks a tad different than a common

They are very similar and need to be seen from the front.

Some hunters call those " Shoot and Release " ducks                   mergansers

Shame on those "hunters".   

[CP]

That’s a regal looking bird on the far left. 

[lokidog]

That’s a regal looking bird on the far left. 

Hey, Coots need loving too.     My mom preferred them over other ducks as she always asked me to whack a couple for her.  One thing going for them is that if you are a gizzard lover like I am, they have larger gizzards to body size than any duck.   

McCrizzley, if you knock down some of the Mergansers, my family likes them ground up and then cooked in any kind of Salisbury Steak recipe with mashed potatoes and gravy. You can soak the breast overnight in milk if you are worried about the stronger taste that they will often have, I don't though.

[McCRIZZLEY]

Mmm sounds good. I've been hunting the snake lately and not seeing many of the birds I'm used to eating. So I've just been freezing a pile of breasts and I think I'll try some sausage this year. Thought the left one was a scoter?

[lokidog]

Mmm sounds good. I've been hunting the snake lately and not seeing many of the birds I'm used to eating. So I've just been freezing a pile of breasts and I think I'll try some sausage this year. Thought the left one was a scoter?

That's so coot... er, cute.....     

[CP]

I haven’t gotten up the nerve to eat a coot or a coot part yet, but I hear that coots make good dog treats when dried. 

[270Shooter]

There is a reason why you found it on the bank. I would avoid shooting them.

[Duckgtr]

Mmm sounds good. I've been hunting the snake lately and not seeing many of the birds I'm used to eating. So I've just been freezing a pile of breasts and I think I'll try some sausage this year. Thought the left one was a scoter?

That my good sir is the every elusive ivory bill. aka coot or mudhen

[lokidog]

There is a reason why you found it on the bank. I would avoid shooting them.

If I saw someone shooting that bird and leaving it, I would be turning them in.  It's not hard to ID Mergansers, if you don't want to eat them, then don't shoot them!   

[Timberstalker]

Loki do you eat the feet and bill? 

Wow, people have accused myself and my family of trying to starve coyotes by not leaving much of a gutpile from deer or elk, but coots and mergansers?  I've tried them and, well, it's an acquired taste I guess.

[lokidog]

Then don't shoot them.  Eating feet or bills has nothing to do with wasting game meat and overall just making hunters look like jackwagons.   

[Timberstalker]

I was laughing while typing, not saying I condone the wanton waste.  Didn't come across like I thought you'd take it.

More just poking fun at you.  Back on topic.

[AWS]

+1 Lokidog, even worse they kill them, throw them in the brush and don't count them toward their limit.     

[lokidog]

I was laughing while typing, not saying I condone the wanton waste.  Didn't come across like I thought you'd take it.

More just poking fun at you.  Back on topic.

OK, just a sore spot.  Thanks for the positive comment on my post this morning with some Mergansers hanging on the strap.   

[buckcanyonlodge]

There is a reason why you found it on the bank. I would avoid shooting them.

If I saw someone shooting that bird and leaving it, I would be turning them in.  It's not hard to ID Mergansers, if you don't want to eat them, then don't shoot them!   

They are destroying the salmon and steelhead runs..all they eat are baby fish...At least that is what some fish people say... 
I have seen duck hunters on the Yakima River shoot HUNDREDS of them. They would breast them out and chop up the boneless breast on a cedar plank then scrape the breast meat into the garbage and eat the plank.

[EWUeagles]

That my good sir is the every elusive ivory bill. aka coot or mudhen

Is that your bird? I would think a coot band would be one of the toughest one to get.

Coots and Mergansers both taste fine in a sausage pile. I am sure some of you folks out there with a great palette will claim you can taste the difference but I think they a full of it.

I like to try new recipes all the time and lokidog the Salisbury Steak has me interested. I don't know if I would try it myself but I think if someone made it I would give it a go. I have co-worker from Arkansas and he said they use to eat coot all the time in gumbo.

[lokidog]

There is a reason why you found it on the bank. I would avoid shooting them.

If I saw someone shooting that bird and leaving it, I would be turning them in.  It's not hard to ID Mergansers, if you don't want to eat them, then don't shoot them!   

They are destroying the salmon and steelhead runs..all they eat are baby fish...At least that is what some fish people say... 
I have seen duck hunters on the Yakima River shoot HUNDREDS of them. They would breast them out and chop up the boneless breast on a cedar plank then scrape the breast meat into the garbage and eat the plank.

There are a lot better ways to help salmon and steelhead than wantonly killing and wasting these birds.  Did you stop to think how many Pikeminnows they might eat as well?  Probably not....  If you shoot them, find someone that needs some decent protein to feed their family.  Oh wait, too much thought and effort might have to go into that.   

[addicted2hunting]

I think mergs taste fine when brined right... the hooded merg is my favorite looking bird...

I'm pretty sure there are much bigger threats to the salmon and steel populations... somebody somewhere will eat them... hell loki and I would love a nice pile of merg breasts if you got em!!!

[buckcanyonlodge]

"  that is what some fish people say "   ..." They would breast them out "  Just so you know Ldog I do not hunt ducks or mergansers. A lot of thought went into my post...supposed to be on the lighter side....but NOoooo you have to go and take offense and go postal on my lighter side comments.  Now that you have yourself all worked up... go think about it.. And that's OK I have thick skin. Calm down and have a nice night.

[lokidog]

"  that is what some fish people say "   ..." They would breast them out "  Just so you know Ldog I do not hunt ducks or mergansers. A lot of thought went into my post...supposed to be on the lighter side....but NOoooo you have to go and take offense and go postal on my lighter side comments.  Now that you have yourself all worked up... go think about it.. And that's OK I have thick skin. Calm down and have a nice night.

The problem isn't light-hearted/humerous banter, it is that in this form it can be taken completely out of context and used against us by antis or simply misunderstood by a new hunter as "the way to do it".  I've heard sooooo many negative comments about Mergansers specifically, that I just get tired of it.  One comment I've always liked  is "my dog won't even pick one of them stinky fish ducks up....", my response to that one would be, then maybe you'd better train your dog a little better......   

You haven't even seen postal, you should see the thread I am currently engaged in on Facebook regarding "resonable" gun laws.   

Hey OP, sorry to thread jack quite so much.  Shoot a Merg, try it, if you don't like it, toss it, I won't hold one against you, as long as it is the one that was going to eat my 42 pound king that I will be catching in four or five years.   

[McCRIZZLEY]

well that escalated quickly.

Now that I know they are open game, I will definitely be shooting my fair share for you fish guys. And I eat what I shoot for you other guys too. Coot was not too bad either, odd skin though. Anything can be made good or covered up if cooked correctly.

[metlhead]

Sako talked me into shooting sawbills and I don't regret it. Large breast makes fine fillets, seasoned well, pounded flat in flour and pan fried. Great for stroganoff and stir fry. Most bird hunters wouldn't know it from a Kansas mallard. Save a salmon or leave em for me, either way,  I win!

[lokidog]

Sako talked me into shooting sawbills and I don't regret it. Large breast makes fine fillets, seasoned well, pounded flat in flour and pan fried. Great for stroganoff and stir fry. Most bird hunters wouldn't know it from a Kansas mallard. Save a salmon or leave em for me, either way,  I win!

 

FYI McC, coots are in a completely different group of birds than ducks.

[buckcanyonlodge]

Way too much oxygen down there at sea level. Haters are going to hate . Nothing I say will make a diff to someone that already hates hunters.  By the way we have lots of mergansers here on Lake Roosevelt along with a sprinkling of mallards , goldeneyes , buffleheads , geese , and ringnecks. I watch them out my front window every day trying to escape the talons of the local golden and bald eagles. More than welcome to come up and "rid the Lake of those dastardly 'gansers"   ...OK Ok just kidding. Like you , I save my "postal" for the right moment..

[lokidog]

I've seen flocks as large as 500+ birds out here.  Fortunately when they are here, there is pretty much only herring, sculpin, and surf perch around for them to eat.

[h2ofowlr]

Biggest complaint about the start of this post is use google and make an attempt at identifying the bird prior to posting it.  It starts squabbles on every waterfowl forum I have been on when individuals do this.
ID the bird or know what your shooting before pulling the trigger!
It shouldn't be shoot it because it flies and then try to figure out what you shot!

[splitshot]

  could be a cormorant.  I thought mergansers were a bit smaller.  looks like a fisheater.   mike w

[McCRIZZLEY]

Biggest complaint about the start of this post is use google and make an attempt at identifying the bird prior to posting it.  It starts squabbles on every waterfowl forum I have been on when individuals do this.
ID the bird or know what your shooting before pulling the trigger!
It shouldn't be shoot it because it flies and then try to figure out what you shot!

Ouch. OP said that I DID NOT shoot it, I found it. I also said I tried ID'ing it on my own. I was referencing drawings and I could not place it as one. Does not seem that unreasonable as other people in here also struggle to ID with the photo.

[lokidog]

Biggest complaint about the start of this post is use google and make an attempt at identifying the bird prior to posting it.  It starts squabbles on every waterfowl forum I have been on when individuals do this.
ID the bird or know what your shooting before pulling the trigger!
It shouldn't be shoot it because it flies and then try to figure out what you shot!

Ouch. OP said that I DID NOT shoot it, I found it. I also said I tried ID'ing it on my own. I was referencing drawings and I could not place it as one. Does not seem that unreasonable as other people in here also struggle to ID with the photo.

It is good that you did not shoot first and ask later, as you mentioned in the OP.  However, I would recommend to anyone in the future finding a bird to take photos of it and leave it in place.  If it was a cormorant (Splitshot, it's not), and you were walking to your rig with it along with your ducks (even without ducks or gun), a warden will not care if you say you just found it, you will be ticketed for shooting/possessing a federally protected bird.

Also, bird ID needs a few things to make it easier, side and front views of the head, breast and wings and a length/wingspan size reference.  Fortunately, most ducks are fairly easy to recognize as most have been seen up close in hand.  Song birds can be quite difficult to ID, even in hand, as some like the Empidonax Flycatchers are3 pretty much only distinguishable by their song.

[Curly]

Well, there is one bird in the photo that was shot and the bird's ID was unknown to the shooter.  Luckily it is a legal bird (with a 25 bird limit if I remember right), but still ID should be known before pulling the trigger.    

(Just food for thought; not looking to get into an argument).

[lokidog]

Well, there is one bird in the photo that was shot and the bird's ID was unknown to the shooter.  Luckily it is a legal bird (with a 25 bird limit if I remember right), but still ID should be known before pulling the trigger.    

(Just food for thought; not looking to get into an argument).

Oh yeah, forgot about that one.   

[McCRIZZLEY]

Ha me too. Fair point.

[h2ofowlr]

Biggest complaint about the start of this post is use google and make an attempt at identifying the bird prior to posting it.  It starts squabbles on every waterfowl forum I have been on when individuals do this.
ID the bird or know what your shooting before pulling the trigger!
It shouldn't be shoot it because it flies and then try to figure out what you shot!

Ouch. OP said that I DID NOT shoot it, I found it. I also said I tried ID'ing it on my own. I was referencing drawings and I could not place it as one. Does not seem that unreasonable as other people in here also struggle to ID with the photo.

I typically also don't add dead or injured birds to the bag.  You may have something that died of illness or had been shot and finally died.  Opened up a few that were rotten around the pellet wound and the meat was turning green.  I let mother nature and it's critters feast on those. 

[lokidog]

That photo comes up as a Hooded Merganser hen.  That is what the one in the OP looks like versus a Common or Red-breasted. The size threw me a bit in the original post as it seemed too big to be a Hooded.  The other two have much more gray colored backs than the Hooded does though.

[h2ofowlr]

That photo comes up as a Hooded Merganser hen.  That is what the one in the OP looks like versus a Common or Red-breasted. The size threw me a bit in the original post as it seemed too big to be a Hooded.  The other two have much more gray colored backs than the Hooded does though.

If he would have had it laid next to a mallard, it would have been easier for most to ID.  The coot and buffie are both pretty small birds.  So, it makes the lawn dart look big.

[lokidog]

I see the Hooded Mergs all the time around Buffleheads, they don't seem that much bigger, but I guess they are.   

[270Shooter]

I wasn't advocating shooting mergs and leaving them. Just telling that's probably what someone did because that's how a lot of guys view them. I would never purposefully leave a bird, and I don't shoot mergs but I don't really get the opportunity to very often anyway.

[lokidog]

I wasn't advocating shooting mergs and leaving them. Just telling that's probably what someone did because that's how a lot of guys view them. I would never purposefully leave a bird, and I don't shoot mergs but I don't really get the opportunity to very often anyway.