Duck identification

Toolman13

Toolman13

Active Member
My son son a diving duck north of Hunsville last week and he needs help identifying it. It was in a flock of approximately 20 birds. They were diving for minnows along a reef when he snuck up on them and they ran on the water to take off, so definitely a diver of some sort.Snapchat-1339840616.jpg
 
Not to criticize but if you can’t ID the duck before pulling the trigger you shouldn’t be pulling the trigger.
That is a hen ruddy duck. Download the Duck Unlimited app. It has a waterfowl ID section.
 
Hello Tillman 13,

It is a hen Ruddy Duck as previously identified. However as long as you know what duck not to shoot in Ontario you will be okay.

Jerome
 
Yes thank you. My son is quite familiar with his ducks and had narrowed it down to 2 possible species before he shot.
One of them being Harlequin ducks, which he knew it wasn't.
After he shot it, he couldn't figure out if it was a Ruddy or a Black Scoter. I appreciate the replies and I am glad that it was identified properly.
Thanks
 
Ruddy's ? Easy to shoot, good to eat but a "p i t a" to pluck, hence their name. Right up there with Canvasbacks the Ruddy's were sought after by the old market gunners as "Pochards" fetched a good price also.
 
He skinned out the breast and made it into duck fingers and said it was good. This flock in praticular may have had their tail feathers burnt before as they were quite skidish. He was proud to have gotten a new species of duck. We hunt in WMU 80 and never see them.
The only divers we have are Mergansers year-round (won't shoot them because they are terrible to eat) and late season Buffleheads and Goldeneyes.
 
Hello Toolman 13,

The so called "artificial intelligence" kept on "correcting" my spelling of Toolman to Tillman as per my previous post ... had to over ride it.

A hen Harlequin Duck looks nearly identical to a hen Bufflehead so keep that in mind. The Ruddy Ducks are also called "butterballs" due to their fat content ... hence the improved taste.

I had a friend who enjoyed all the Mergansers that I shot at Presqu'ile years ago ... told me that they were great.

Jerome
 
I think you all need your eyes checked, especially those (Brandon S) criticizing the OP for improper identification when you clearly can’t identify it yourself. That’s a Common (Black) Scoter.

-Nick
 
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I know of a @Sprite from the OOD Forums, staightshooter, calls them as he see's them but he is correct. I've shot Ruddy's hence my post started as a question followed by trivia but something about the bill didn't look right but never having shot a Scoter before I had to go look that one up.
 
Hello Toolman 13,

I apologize for my error in answering your duck identification question.

I initially looked at the photograph with a bias since the duck had already been misidentified as hen Ruddy Duck and quite frankly ... that was what it looked like to me. However ... after reading the response from Sprite (who knows his ducks) I had to take another look at the photograph with my "le Master" duck identification book in hand ... yep ... a hen black scoter.

I will certainly look twice (book in hand) before making that mistake again.

Jerome
 
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