[Birdtalk] Another Weird Duck Report

[Kristin Purdy]

At the risk of becoming the queen of weird duck reports, I submit this observation.

Today at Farmington Bay WMA in Davis County I saw two Ruddy Ducks with nearly all-white heads. The first bird threw me not only because of the white head, but the bird swam during my lengthy observation with its head tucked into its scapulars. It was difficult to determine the extent of the bird's head color. 

The white head appeared to sit atop the body like a beacon. During my brief looks at the whole head, the bird showed a dark eye (completely surrounded in white feathering) and a faint, almost not distinguishable dusky wide bar running across the forehead from the base of the upper mandible to the top point of the crown. The overall impression was white. 

Later I scanned for the bird again and found it just as it was swimming past...another one! The second duck had more dark plumage in the crown. The dark thick stripe across the crown was grayish and ran down the back of the neck.The stripe looked similar to that of a female Long-tailed Duck, but of course, the Long-tail's big black spot behind the ear was missing. 

The two white-heads did not stick together. 

Both birds were swimming with Ruddys, had the same body structure, were the same size, had dark gray beaks and maintained their stiff little tails pointing up at a 45° angle. The only white they showed was their head plumage. Their body plumage was paler than the male Ruddys present; it was closer in shade to the females' and a warmer shade of brown.

Weird, huh?

Kris
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