DIVING DUCKS
Scaups (Lesser & Greater)
- Also called Bluebill & Broadbill, for obvious reasons, bill is blue & broad
- Two tone; dark head, neck & tail. White in middle. Head dark and glossy.
- Broad white stripe on trailing edge of wing, seen in flight
- Female dark brown with white patch at base of bill
Common Goldeneye
- Mid Size Duck
- White round cheek patch, obvious in flight
- Yellow eye, greenish/blackish head
- Body black & white on back, white on sides. Black & white pattern visible in flight also.
- Female, gray body, brown head, white neck ring
Ruddy Duck
- Cinnamon body in breeding color, gray in winter
- Large white patch from bill to back of head, under eye
- Dark head, blue bill
- Holds tail stiffly erect, called "stiff tailed" duck
- Small & chubby in size
- Female grayish in color with dark line crossing cheek patch.
- Shows breeding colors in spring, unlike other ducks which are in breeding colors in winter.
Bufflehead
- Male has high white crown/crest,
even obvious when not erect
- White underbody, black on back
- Small, blue bill
- Female gray/brown in color with
white cheek patch and white breast
- Smallest Diver
Ring-Necked Duck
- Ring around base of bill and at tip
- Neck ring hard to see and purple in color
- Very Scaup-like in appearance, but with black back
- Sharp vertical white mark in front of wing
- Broad gray wing-stripe seen in flight
- Female is brown with white eye ring and ring on bill
Redhead
- Similar to Canvasback in color, except not as white, more grayish tinge to white body
- Bill bluish in color and slightly curved upward
- Smaller than Canvasback
- Female brown
Canvasback
- Fastest & biggest diver
- Triangular red face and red neck, with red eye
- Broad bill sloping down from face with no curve
- Black breast, white back & sides, black tip on tail
- Notice red head, pointy bill & long neck in flight
- Female grayish brown
- Not seen as often
- Sharp orange/red bill
- Dark green/ black back, white sides
- Same Merganser profile but appears much whiiter than other Mergansers
- Female gray body with reddish head & chest
For more information on Ducks, go to ENature.com
MERGANSERS
There are three types of Mergansers on LI:
- Sharp orange/red bill,
- Large white neck ring, mottled red breast
- Black & white body
- Head glossy greenish/black
- Crest ragged, looks like "bad hair day"
- Female pale gray with reddish head crest & head
- White crown/crest (obvious even in flight)
- White chest, black back & rust colored sides
- Small in size
- Black face, razor sharp and pointed bill
- Female brown in color, same profile, with dark crest
Lesser
Greater
