ID ducks on the wing

[Stein]

Rather than hijacking the other thread I thought I would start a new one.

Full disclosure, I shoot then look 90% of the time.  When there is plenty of light I can usually make out a greenhead and the dancing flight of a teal.  Other than that, it looks like a duck to me.

What are some tips or techniques for picking out other ducks?

[ELKBURGER]

Tagging! I have a lot to learn. Those with experience please share

[Bill W]

you should have posted on the other thread.  I bought a couple of books last year after hunting with Vandemann and CP.  They could ID ducks at a way longer distance than I could so I thought I'd get some books on ducks.   Below is the best I found:

It gets into a number of different flight characteristics and how high they usually fly.

[lokidog]

I go by size, wing shape, and wing beat more than anything else, I think.

Honestly, I think you can look at all of the books in the world, but you have to have eyes on live ducks to get good at it. When you see birds in the distance, pay attention to the details, guess what they are, tell your dog why you think this, then when they are closer and easier to identify, verify your guess.

 

[JLS]

guess what they are, tell your dog why you think this,

What if your dog disagrees with your assessment?

[CP]

I don’t always get it right, especially in low light situations, especially early in the season.  And it seems to get harder as my eyes grow older.  I usually know the species but sometimes what I thought was a mallard turns into a canvasback or a teal turns into a spoonie.  It happens.   

[Special T]

Head distance from body is a fair indicator as are the noises they make. Pigtails heads seem to be separate from the body. Widgen seen like there isn't any neck.

[Bill W]

I go by size, wing shape, and wing beat more than anything else, I think.

Honestly, I think you can look at all of the books in the world, but you have to have eyes on live ducks to get good at it. When you see birds in the distance, pay attention to the details, guess what they are, tell your dog why you think this, then when they are closer and easier to identify, verify your guess.

 

There is one wingbeat I learned on the other side.  At a distance cormorants have about the same body size as a snow goose (in the fog where everything is gray).... but the wing beat is faster and no bend to the wings. 

[lokidog]

guess what they are, tell your dog why you think this,

What if your dog disagrees with your assessment?

Remind him where dinner comes from!   

[vandeman17]

As stated above, the best way to get better at id'ing birds is time spent in the field. Personally, I don't pay as much attention to altitude the birds are flying but more so how they are flying. Most species fly a little as far as wing beats along with how they maneuver and work into your decoys. I also try as hard as I can to make mental notes of what I have seen to use as future information. I think that most novice bird hunters are so focused and excited on killing a duck that they aren't as observant to the finer details. As you kill more ducks, you will get better. The book is a great start too!

[Wacenturion]

Generally speaking divers wing beats are faster and they fly in tighter formations, whereas puddle ducks are just the reverse of both.  Divers also make "brrr" type sounds and puddle ducks use various sounds from quacks, whistles and the familiar mallard highball.

The way some puddle ducks respond will also give them away.  If puddle ducks up high come decending straight down on you like on a beeline, heading for a crash 747, you can just about bet shovelers.  You can use that tip to avoid pulling the trigger and also ensure your blind buddy ends up with some excellent tablefare .  Mallards, pintails, gadwalls etc tend to circle and go up and down evaluating the landing zone.

As Loki said, "you have to have eyes on live ducks to get good at it".   

[DOUBLELUNG]

Best tip I can give you is to spend time looking at flying ducks with binoculars, play bird watcher and pretty soon you will ID most of your ducks before pulling the trigger.  You will still get surprised occasionally, twice I've had gadwall on the wing turn into hen pintails in the hand.

[hdshot]

Stick to what I want, greenheads and geese.  But all puddle ducks have a similar shape hard to explain.  Single greenheads can make a frog sound quack and if the stay quiet they sneak in from the back with a loaf swing just outside the deeks causing them to fly over the blind for a good shot.  Unfortunately but rare hens will stay quit and do this move to check it out and in low light this is how I get a few hen mallards a year.  But I let hens to go incase one or two do the greenhead swing as I call it in low light days because that is such a tempting shot for me.

Pelicans glide a lot and have the black wing tips but are huge compared to snow geese.  If to good to be true it probably is ticket or maybe even jail bait.     

[GrampasGuns]

60+ days a year in the duck blind will help!

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[270Shooter]

Time the blind watching the birds is really the best way. It took me about 3 years to be decent at it. Usually I only want to shoot mallards and pintail anyway, when diver hunting it can be tough to tell a greater bluebill from a redhead, or a ring neck from a lesser bluebill.

[Stein]

60+ days a year in the duck blind will help!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Just hit hunt # 15 on Thursday, I'm getting there!