Drakes only....on BW Teal?

[Anatidae]

I'm beginning to think.......anybody that can distiguish a drake from a hen, this time of year.........and shoot drakes only (in the air)........is either pumpin' sunshine up their noses or we shot all-hens the other day.

I can distinguish the difference when they've reached full plumage, but I have never killed BW's in the early season before. They all look alike, to me. No white patch on the face, yet?

[SCOOTER]

we killed 7 sunday and they all looked alike. the only difference was the under side of two was alot darker, other than that they were all the same.
my $.02

[laduck]

I have hunted them since we first started having an early season. When they are in their early plumage, I don't know of anyone who can tell a drake from a hen. As you say, if they can do it-they are the best there is. Jack

[judge jb]

the only mature drake BW i recognized was taken in late Jan. a couple of years ago...and i don't think he was in full bloom....

as Gulf said " if i miss it, it was a hen, if i get it, it's a drake" haha

judge jb

[gator]

i can't do it and aint' gonna pretend i can...i wish someone would come up w/ a way, i don't like going a picking up a hen if i can help it

[Wildfowler]

Here's a thought on the subject. It's not scientific and I may be wrong, and would love to be shown that I am wrong. I think that hens and the drake BW Teal do not migrate together at the exact same times of the year. The main reason that I think this way, is because other species of ducks are still very distinguishable while in their Summer plumage. And as distinctly different as the BW drakes look while in their full breeding plumage makes me think they should be distinguishable this time of the year.

A male BW was shot on a September Teal hunt in my group a several seasons ago. The white crescent patch on his face was definitely visible, so I know there will be exceptions to my theory. This tells me that it should be possible to distinguish the drakes at this time of the year.

But to qualify my theory, look closely next April, when you see them on their migration back North. A vast majority of a flock of birds will be Drakes. I dare not say all of them will be drakes, but in my observations, I have noticed that most of what I see will be drakes.

I think the hens migrates South well in advance of the drakes probably overlapping with the early Teal season. And I think the drakes will have migrated South later, but still well before the regular duck season opens. I think we would all agree that BW Teal are one of the fastest migrants in existence. Meaning, when they leave the breeding grounds, they quickly arrive in their final Southern destination, without having to be "pushed" South by freeze outs. So we really don't get much time to observed them in our area.

Beginning at about this time of the year, I do a lot of bird watching. I can honestly say that from my experience, I have not seen a lot of "drake" BW Teal during October and Early November to validate my theory. But then again, I am not a biologist, who gets to do this for a living. I only get to go out looking, after work (daylight savings time permitting) and on weekends. So I may be way wrong with my theory, but I can also say that I do I see very many BW Teal during this time of the year.

I have never been to Canada, so I've never seen them when we know they will be together in their late Summer plumage before they migrate South. Nor do I know much of their anatomy. I suppose those of you who can identify the avian sex organs from harvested waterfowl could easily shoot holes in my theory by examining samples they have collected during the early Teal season.

I welcome any criticism of my theory. Are there any biologists out there who can help with this? Or anyone who regularly hunts/lives in the South marshes of LA? I understand that y'all get more BW's during your regular duck season that we do in MS/AR. I would be most particularly interested to know if you see many of them during October/Early November also.

Thanks for listening. This is just one persons personal observations without ever giving any effort to do any more in depth research..

[gator]

now, i ain't saying i agree 100% but a couple of years ago we were hunting on a dang near completely frozen lake...we found a place were a good flowing spring filtered in and kept it open (not more than 50 yds x 50 yds) anyway, we had what at the time seemed like 1000's of ducks trying to get into that hole but really was only a couple of hundred...anyway, they were all GW teal...we wound up w/ 16 of the little boogers and ALL were drakes...not b/c we were picking them out of the bunch but b/c that's all we saw...our party stayed for a while b/c it was so interesting...they would sit down (those that could fit) and get back up in a little while and circle the lake and sure enough, 5-10 minutes later, they would be back again to get down in the whole...this having been said, our incident may have been a freak of nature but i at least agree some w/ what your saying...good thought

[dos gris]

One way to tell is the drakes will frequently have dark grey spots on their bill.

[Double_R]

Our crew banded 5,800+ bluewinged teal in Saskachewan last summer. Got lots of practice. Sidebar: early trapping effort during banding, catch primarily adult drakes. Those very first teal you see in the fall are primarily adult drakes.

This time of year they're still in basic molt and hard to distinguish sexes, even with birds in hand unless you've had experience. Female bills are mottled, or freckled. Adult drakes have relatively brighter orange feet and the "prettiest" wing coloration. Retrices (tail feathers) of hatch year birds are frazzled at the tips. Wing plumage is the most consistent indicator of birds in hand if you know what to look at (see attached link below). If you happen to get one with a bright red eye that otherwise looks exactly like a blue-winged teal, it's not a blue-winged teal at all - it's a drake cinnamon teal. I'll try to post a pic of one from last summer later.

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/tool ... citeal.htm

The birds have arrived in force, lots of them! Maybe the storm down south'll keep them up here awhile longer. best regards.

[cmducks]

During their fall migrations, BWT drakes are in eclipse plumage, so they look very much like hens and don't have the distinct white crescent and powder-blue face and neck that they have with their breeding plumage. As we all know, Blue-wings are one of the earliest migrants; they also migrate farther than most other ducks, most going to Central and even to South America (some do stay along the coast of LA, MS, TX etc). They seem to be a species that is an early, obligate migrant (like many migratory song birds) rather than a facultative migrant (ones that move south as wintery conditions force them to).
I'll have to take a look at some references I don't have handy at the moment, but there is a way to accurately distinguish drakes form hens in the hand, even when they are in the eclipse plumage. If my (weak) memory serves me, the extent of green in the speculum and also the extent of the powder-blue sholder patch are some of the distinguishing features (forgive me for not being more specific . . .), with drakes having more extensive coloration than do hens. I seem to remember the white tips of the greater coverts (those feathers above the primary "wing" feathers) is also an indication, with drakes having more white than hens. However, these field marks can get tricky with comparing first-year (juveniles) birds of both sexes with adults. BWT apparently stay in eclipse plumage much longer than do many other duck species, and the drakes may not come into their full breeding plumage until Dec-Jan. Norther shovelors are like this as well.
In migratory birds, there is definately evidence (species specific) for differential migration by sex and age. In some songbird species, males may migrate before females and juveniles, but not move as far south as do females and juveniles. From what I've just read in an oooooold reference, it seems that drake BWT may follow this pattern in the fall, with drakes generally departing earlier than hens and juveniles. However, it is very likely to have mixed-sex flocks, but it is probably impossible to distinguish drakes from hens in the air.
Hope this helps. I'll try to hunt down some specific references about the distinguishing field marks and post those when I can. Maybe some of the folks in wildlife could give us some help with more of the specifics????

[RedEyed Duck]

Darn good post Double_R! That is a great link.

[Wildfowler]

Great updates fellows!! Thanks for all the information.

[Anatidae]

Thanks for the replies, fellas..........'lotta good information. If i get industrious, I'll go dig'em outa the garbage and examine their bills.

I DID find the egg sacks in one bird......and noticed more distinct colors on the speculum with a green bar below the powder blue on a couple of other birds.

Some breast plumage was relatively darker than others and i did notice some motteling on bills.

I'll pay more attention to 'detail' next time I shoot a mess o' BW's. May have to call 'DUForester' or 'Ringbill' to help with the I.D., nextime. I'm sure 'Duckwarden' would know how to distinguish them, too.

'Ain't nuttin' like seein' a wall of 'BLUE' as that group of around 75 birds banked HARD at 40yds to end-up in the blocks. Closest bird to us (before the flush) was about 20 feet........What a thrill!!!

Thanks again, for the info! Good luck, everyone!

[duforester]

Anatidae, I'd rather you give me a call so I can try to ID them while they are flying with a confirmation after they hit the water! lol Sounds like you have had a good season!

[SkippyJ]

I got in to them thick around Cameron one year in January. Drakes were waaayyy plummed out. You could pick them out of every group. Still kicking myself for mounting one.