Help with ID please - DPChallenge Forums

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical DF for Nikon

03/11/2005 10:44:11 AM · #1

My best guess is that 2nd and 3rd are female Ring Necked Duck. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

Pictures were take with 100-400L hand held.

Apple iPhone

03/11/2005 10:51:37 AM · #2

top one possibly a female ruddy duck??? I'm not a duck watcher so i dotn really know.. but it looks sort of like one

03/11/2005 10:56:46 AM · #3

All three appear to be female Ring-necked ducks.

Canon PowerShot Pro 90 IS

03/11/2005 11:06:15 AM · #4

I agree with 2 & 3 as female Ring-necked ducks, but 1 appears to be a different species to me, never seen that much rust on a ring-necked. Were the ducks at a zoo, or in a collection or wild?

coolhar

03/11/2005 11:12:16 AM · #5

My guess is that the first one might be a female redhead, but I'm not real confident about it.

Was it larger than the other two? Ring-necks are 15-18 inches while a redhead is 18-23 inches.

03/11/2005 11:15:11 AM · #6

Originally posted by vtruan:

I agree with 2 & 3 as female Ring-necked ducks, but 1 appears to be a different species to me, never seen that much rust on a ring-necked. Were the ducks at a zoo, or in a collection or wild?

Number 1 could be molting or a color variation or could be a hybrid. I was thinking Wigeon or Ruddy when I first looked at her, but she fits closer to a Ring-necked then to either of those. The bill and the coloration of the body strongly point to the Ring-necked. She only lacks the light coloration at the base of the bill and the white eye ring and stripe but shows traces of the latter.

03/11/2005 11:20:10 AM · #7

I agree Vtruan. I never seen so must rust on ring necked either. Thanks any way.

03/11/2005 11:27:07 AM · #8

Originally posted by fas917:

I agree Vtruan. I never seen so must rust on ring necked either. Thanks any way.

Were these taken in the wild?

03/11/2005 11:33:39 AM · #9

I think 1 is a New Zealand Scaup (Aythna novaeseelandiae)but not positive. It is definitely in genus Aythna.

03/11/2005 11:46:38 AM · #10

Originally posted by vtruan:

I think 1 is a New Zealand Scaup (Aythna novaeseelandiae)but not positive. It is definitely in genus Aythna.

This picture was taken in NY (i'm asuming) and the head seems the wrong shape to be a New Zealand Scaup. I think we need to know where these pictures were taken and whether they were taken in the wild or in a park or a zoo. You have me curious now.

03/11/2005 11:57:51 AM · #11

Yes the pictures were taken in New York, Long Island in a state park pond by Jones Beach. I waited hours for them to come out of their hiding. I also thought the 1st one to be a Scaup (female) but not sure.

03/11/2005 12:09:12 PM · #12

Originally posted by fas917:

The Scuaps native to your area have bright yellow eyes and do not have the line across the beak like the one in your picture. The shape of the head points to the Ring-necked. I think perhaps an inmature female Ring-necked molting or a hybrid.

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12-24mm f/4.0G IF-ED

03/11/2005 12:53:02 PM · #13

Could be a hybred scaup/ring-necked. They can have the ringed bill and rust colors. That's very possible.

jbsmithana

Nikon D300

03/11/2005 01:26:20 PM · #14

I'll add my two cents worth. My guess is all three are Female Ring Necks and the differnece is just lighting and possibly processing.

Dark eye, slight white eye-ring, white ring on bill, and the lighter colored face patch.

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

03/11/2005 02:57:10 PM · #15

Jbsmithana,

I added another shoot of the same duck. I think in the far lest corner, you can spot the male duck. I did not do any post processings, only resized and sharpen for the web. Nothing else is done to the pictures.
Hopefully I will be able to capture them this weekend as they are very shy and elusive.

ovenbird

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

03/11/2005 03:22:08 PM · #16

The first one looks to me like it could possibly be a female lesser scaup as I see no evidence of the "spur" that you would normally see in ring-necked ducks. It also doesn�t really appear to have an eye-ring. The other two look like ring-necks to me.

Tom

jbsmithana

Nikon D300

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12-24mm f/4.0G IF-ED

03/11/2005 03:26:58 PM · #17

Ok - now I'm totally confused. I left a comment on the new pic. Think I'll send these to some friends in Audubon and see what we find out. Even for a Scaup the colors are all wrong (I think).

Message edited by author 2005-03-11 15:39:08.