• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

ring necked duck (1 Viewer)

Well see, back in the day when they used to have to shoot the bird to identify it, they got their sights on the yet-unnamed Ring-necked Duck, shot, and collected their prize. With the bird dead and in hand, the ring around the neck was easy to see and seemed to be a good, diagnostic field mark, and it was so named "Ring-necked Duck." What these hunter/birders failed to realize is the virtual inability to see that field mark in the actual field. |8||
 
dddiver said:
If it's not a stupid question,how does the ring necked duck get it's name? :stuck:


I saw my first ring necked duck a couple of weeks ago and thought at the time that it should be called the ring billed duck. ;)

Joanne
 
joannechattaway said:
I saw my first ring necked duck a couple of weeks ago and thought at the time that it should be called the ring billed duck. ;)

Joanne

Frank and I went to Weir Wood Reservoir on Saturday and saw a female RND - a lifer for both of us which was cool - and I wondered, having also looked up the picture of the male in the field guide, why it was called "ring-necked". So now I know - thanks people :)))

Didi
 
I wondered this many years ago and when I was told I had a close look at the Slimbridge collection birds. I have since found a few Ring-neck ducks in the UK and seen many others but have never put it in a description.
 
Wow. I've seen them by the hundreds, but never well enough to see that ring. This is the first I've heard of it. I'll have to look closer next time.

I have other people suggest ring-billed instead of ring-necked as well.
 
overworkedirish said:
Well see, back in the day when they used to have to shoot the bird to identify it, they got their sights on the yet-unnamed Ring-necked Duck, shot, and collected their prize. With the bird dead and in hand, the ring around the neck was easy to see and seemed to be a good, diagnostic field mark, and it was so named "Ring-necked Duck." What these hunter/birders failed to realize is the virtual inability to see that field mark in the actual field. |8||

Ah well, not strictly true, as the first Ring-necked Duck described for scince was never seen alive by the describer. It came from Leadenhall Market in London (yes, London, England).
 
overworkedirish said:
Well see, back in the day when they used to have to shoot the bird to identify it, they got their sights on the yet-unnamed Ring-necked Duck, shot, and collected their prize. With the bird dead and in hand, the ring around the neck was easy to see and seemed to be a good, diagnostic field mark, and it was so named "Ring-necked Duck." What these hunter/birders failed to realize is the virtual inability to see that field mark in the actual field. |8||

Is this in a similar vein (also taking into accounts Mike's reply) to the worst named bird in the world - Red-bellied Woodpecker.
 
Frenchy said:
Is this in a similar vein (also taking into accounts Mike's reply) to the worst named bird in the world - Red-bellied Woodpecker.

I was hoping someone would bring this up! This, on the other hand, was due to a small sampling size of specimens (mouthful of S's, no? haha). It is true that about 10-20% of RBWOs have a slight reddish hue on their bellies. Since red-headed was already taken, they named it red-bellied.

And to Mike - you may be right, I don't know the EXACT story (hence my ambiguity), but the point I was trying to get across was that the ring was visible when the bird was in hand, not in field.

Other bad names? Connecticut Warbler - a rarity in Connecticut |8|| , named so only because the first specimen was captured there.
 
overworkedirish said:
Other bad names? Connecticut Warbler - a rarity in Connecticut |8|| , named so only because the first specimen was captured there.

My personal favorite mis-named bird is Palm Warbler.
 
Birds on their backs

Birds are named from specimens, which in the western musem tradition are stored on their backs. As a result, there are many species named for characters visible only ventrally.

Ring-necked Duck is one of them: the ring on the neck (not that hard to see at close range in the field, by the way) is a clear distinction from other Aythya ducks in the drawer, while the bands across the bill are invisible if you are looking at a bird on its back (try it).

The same goes for such bird as Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

The genus Melanerpes, which includes Red-bellied Woodpeckers, is characterized by red or yellow at the vent, ranging from the rich red of Red-bellied to the lemon yellow of Gila to the slash of rusty orange on the belly of Red-headed Woodpeckers. Lewis's Woodpecker, though, takes the prize in the genus with its pepto-bismol pink belly and lower breast.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 18 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top