Central TX ducks- not domestics. (1 Viewer)

[Tired]

I know there are Northern pintails and Northern shovelers in this group, but I can't figure out what these two are. INaturalist links are included because they have at least one other photo apiece in them. Sorry about picture quality, they were pretty far away. All together in a big mixed-species flock, probably a good 50 or so birds all told.

American Wigeon (Mareca americana)

American Wigeon from Williamson County, TX, USA on February 21, 2021 at 01:19 PM by fishkeeper. Black head, blue bill, sort of a white mohawk. Not sure how many of these were mixed into the gro...

www.inaturalist.org

Northern Pintail (Anas acuta)

Northern Pintail from Williamson County, TX, USA on February 21, 2021 at 12:29 PM by fishkeeper. Dead center in the first photo. Black head, blue bill. No markings visible on head. I think that'...

www.inaturalist.org

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

In the first picture are a American Wigeon and Shoveler. The second picture shows male Pintails.

 

[aeshna5]

Agree with Andrew.

 

[Tired]

Widgeon pictures online look right for the first birds, but the pintails look different to me. The white on the pintails seems to extend further up the head than on these, and these don't have the tail plume. The other photos show the extent of the black better. Do some of them just not really have white on the head, and no tail plume?

 

[jmepler]

The white on a Northern Pintail drake goes up the back of the head. It is just visible on the bird on the left. Definitely Northern Pintail.

 

[Tired]

Hm, fair enough. Having had another look at my pictures, these do appear to all show birds that are mostly seen from the front, or are otherwise positioned to hide the backs of their necks. I suppose that's why they look like the neck is entirely white.

That said, I would like to have a word with whoever's in charge of bird standardization. There's quite a bit of variation among individuals in the same species. Not to mention all this nonsense about "winter plumage" and "non-breeding plumage" and "sexual dimorphism". The painters ought to pick a design, apply it in the egg, and keep it that way.

(I'm kidding. I don't expect nature to be entirely uniform. I'm just not a particular fan of when my guide says "this species of bird looks like this" and the bird I find looks just different enough to make me question it. I'll have to practice figuring out whether the nearest match is, in fact, an actual match. Must remember that looking a possible match up online to see many more pictures of it is, in fact, something I can do.)

These were nice to find. I've been wanting to spot some migratory birds. Pintails and shovelers were both on the list of birds I wanted to see- I like them. Light and dark colors in clean, contrasting shapes, and an unusual detail. Shovelers look like they dipped their bill in magical growth juice, and pintails have that compass needle of a tail.