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Duck plumage question (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter merryslug
- Start date
Not really. Eclipse is the dull plumage that a male duck acquires when it's growing new feathers after the breeding season. The dull tips of the feathers wear off to produce the full plumage, usually by the autumn.
Sort of. After molting out of the eclipse plumage in the fall many male ducks start courting females again though actual breeding doesn't take place until the next spring.
No, the eclipse plumage is the non-breeding plumage
RoyW
Well-known member
I would suggest that it's probably better to forget about the idea of "breeding" and "non-breeding" plumage with most ducks, although "eclipse" plumage is usually referred to as the "non-breeding" plumage.
There are a few species that do have a 'proper' non breeding plumage (Ruddy Duck and Long-tailed Duck, which have a different plumage during the winter are examples).
Most ducks have the same plumage for most of the year though, apart from a period of several weeks during late summer and early autumn when they are in "eclipse". The 'normal' plumage is typically considered to be "breeding" plumage, because this is the plumage that the males are in during courtship (which starts in the autumn for most species), and when they mate. The "eclipse" plumage will often be seen during the period while the females have broods though - which could be considered the breeding season by some.
Going into, or coming out of, eclipse plumage both involve a moult - the brighter 'normal' plumage is not revealed by the tips of feathers wearing off.
There are a few species that do have a 'proper' non breeding plumage (Ruddy Duck and Long-tailed Duck, which have a different plumage during the winter are examples).
Most ducks have the same plumage for most of the year though, apart from a period of several weeks during late summer and early autumn when they are in "eclipse". The 'normal' plumage is typically considered to be "breeding" plumage, because this is the plumage that the males are in during courtship (which starts in the autumn for most species), and when they mate. The "eclipse" plumage will often be seen during the period while the females have broods though - which could be considered the breeding season by some.
Going into, or coming out of, eclipse plumage both involve a moult - the brighter 'normal' plumage is not revealed by the tips of feathers wearing off.
I disagree. "Breeding plumage" as applied to dabbling & other ducks with a "two-plumage" system of the sort we're discussing seems to me a perfectly appropriate informal term for the non-eclipse plumage, as this is plumage in which all breeding activities take place. As I'm sure you know avian molt has been much argued about by scientists & several technical vocabularies have been developed to describe it, but I don't see any need for the average birder to get involved in these complexities.
I note, BTW, that you put the term you appear to favor for the plumage concerned ("normal") in quotation marks. Surely you need to come up with a better alternative than that!
That's right, most ducks have two plumages: one (the eclipse) worn for a month or 2 at the end of the breeding season, the other for the rest of the year. Unlike most other birds, ducks shed their wing feathers all at once and are flightless until they are regrown and it is while this is happening that the males adopt the inconspicuous eclipse plumage. Female ducks have an eclipse plumage also but it's much less noticeable than the male's since it doesn't differ much from the year-round plumage.
Adam W
Well-known member
Although the males are still in eclipse plumage for quite a while after the flight feathers have regrown,its usually about 2 months or so after the first Ducks return here in the Autumn before we see them fully out of eclipse plumage.
Agreed, the period of flightless in the male Mallard, for example, lasts only about 3 weeks but the complete transition into & out of the eclipse can take a couple of months or more.
Chris Benesh
So much work, so little time...so let's go birding
Hi merryslug,
Duck molt is weird stuff, and is differs significantly from what goes on with passerines. In fact, duck molt is still incompletely understood (e.g. how many molts occur in a single annual cycle). Geese and whistling-ducks have relatively simple molt strategies, but other types of ducks have more complicated things going on. Unless you really want to delve into it in depth, it's probably best to stick with the sort of answer you gave in post #9. Fugl's post #10 is a good summation of what's going on.
Most ducks have two main plumages a year. For drakes, there is a bright plumage and a dull plumage. Most types of drakes are is this bright plumage for most of the year, then have a duller, more female-like plumage that they molt into once actual nesting has begun. It is this duller plumage that is referred to as eclipse plumage, while the bright plumage is referred to as the breeding plumage. However, it is very different for sea ducks and stiff-tails. The take home message for the layperson should be that drakes can look significantly different in summer and fall then they do at other seasons (because they are in eclipse plumage), often looking more female-like.
For molt geeks:
It seems like most assessments of duck molt that I've read recently (e.g., those summarized in Steve Howell's Molt in North American Birds) suggests that the replacement of bright feathering with dull feathering (i.e., the attainment of eclipse plumage) is the result of a partial or incomplete pre-alternate or possibly even a pre-supplemental molt, whereas the rapid replacement of flight feathers is part of a complete pre-basic molt (even though they are occurring at the same time). Importantly, these interpretations differ from some of the older, traditional ones found in guides and life histories (such as Birds of the Western Palearctic).
Chris
Duck molt is weird stuff, and is differs significantly from what goes on with passerines. In fact, duck molt is still incompletely understood (e.g. how many molts occur in a single annual cycle). Geese and whistling-ducks have relatively simple molt strategies, but other types of ducks have more complicated things going on. Unless you really want to delve into it in depth, it's probably best to stick with the sort of answer you gave in post #9. Fugl's post #10 is a good summation of what's going on.
Most ducks have two main plumages a year. For drakes, there is a bright plumage and a dull plumage. Most types of drakes are is this bright plumage for most of the year, then have a duller, more female-like plumage that they molt into once actual nesting has begun. It is this duller plumage that is referred to as eclipse plumage, while the bright plumage is referred to as the breeding plumage. However, it is very different for sea ducks and stiff-tails. The take home message for the layperson should be that drakes can look significantly different in summer and fall then they do at other seasons (because they are in eclipse plumage), often looking more female-like.
For molt geeks:
It seems like most assessments of duck molt that I've read recently (e.g., those summarized in Steve Howell's Molt in North American Birds) suggests that the replacement of bright feathering with dull feathering (i.e., the attainment of eclipse plumage) is the result of a partial or incomplete pre-alternate or possibly even a pre-supplemental molt, whereas the rapid replacement of flight feathers is part of a complete pre-basic molt (even though they are occurring at the same time). Importantly, these interpretations differ from some of the older, traditional ones found in guides and life histories (such as Birds of the Western Palearctic).
Chris
