Harlequin Duck – Swimmers – 2/16/2012 to 5/29/2018

This male Harlequin Duck was photographed at the cruise ship dock in Juneau, Alaska.

The female Harlequin Duck was photographed at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois on 2/16 2012.

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The male Harlequin Duck is a small slaty duck with chestnut sides and odd white patches and spots. The female Harlequin Duck is a dusky brown with three white spots on the side of its head, and no wing patches. It has a habitat of mountain streams in summer and rocky coastal waters in winter, and favors extremely turbulent streams. Its diet consists of mollusks, crustaceans, plant material, and insects.

 

 

Wood Duck Bird – Swimmers – 5/9/2011 to 5/7/17

The breeding male Wood Duck was photographed in September at Whitnall Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The female Wood Duck was photographed at Greenfield Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The non-breeding male Wood Duck was photographed in September at Whitnall Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The juvenile Wood Ducks were photographed at Whitnall Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The fussy chick Wood Ducks were photographed with the female wood duck at Greenfield Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

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The male breeding Wood Duck has a highly colored face pattern with sweptback chest, white belly, dark back with dark squared of tail, and all with unique rainbow iridescence. The female Wood Duck is dull colored with a gray crested head with a white-eye patch. The non-breeding male Wood Duck is a brown color with dark head that has a white bridle on the throat. They have a range of south Canada to northeast, and central United States eastward and northwest. They have a habitat of wooded swamps, rivers, and ponds, mainly those surrounded by shading woodlands overhanging the water. They have a diet of mostly seeds of aquatic plants. It has no close relative except for the Mandarin Duck of eastern Asia.

 

 

Bufflehead Duck Bird – Swimmers – 1/3/2012

This male Bufflehead Duck was photographed at Lake Park on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

This female Bufflehead Duck was also photographed in Lake Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Select his link to see photos of the Bufflehead Duck, next select slideshow

The male Bufflehead Duck is a small duck with mostly white and a black back, and a puffy black head with a large bonnet-like white patch. It has a gray bill. The female Bufflehead Duck has a dark brown head with white cheek spot, and a dark brown back with white wing patch, and a small gray bill. The breast and lower body is light brown. It has a range of Alaska, Canada, Northwestern United States, and winters to Mexico and the Gulf Coast. They have a habitat in lakes, ponds, rivers, and salt bays, a usually are seen in a small group. It is less sociable than most ducks, almost never seen in large flocks, and takes wing easily from the water with rapid wing beats. This makes more difficult to photograph. A diminutive diver and very energetic in its feeding. It feeds on plant material, aquatic insects, and crustaceans and mollusks.

 

 

Ring Necked Duck Bird – Swimmers – 3/31/2014

The male Ring-Necked Duck was photographed in Frame Park in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

The female Ring-Necked Duck stayed with a group of other Ring-Necked Ducks and Scaups in the center of the Fox River.

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The male Ring-Necked Duck has a black top and white bottom with a vertical white mark before the wing and a bluish bill with a white ring. The female Ring-Necked Duck is brownish with an indistinct lightface patch, a dark eye with white-eye ring, and a white ring on the bill. It is similar to the Lesser and Greater, Scaup Ducks. It has a range of Canada and the United States to Panama. It has a habit on wooded lakes, ponds, and on usually fresh water rivers and bays. It feeds on mostly aquatic plants, stems, roots, seeds, and insects. It usually stays to itself and associates with dabbling ducks on shallow steams or ponds. Despite the name, a ring on its neck is almost never visible.

 

Muscovy Duck Bird – Swimmers – 11/27/2013

These Muscovy Ducks were photographed in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

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The Muscovy Duck is a large domesticated duck that is predominantly black and white with pink or red wattles around the bill. They have claws on their feet and a flat tail. It is native to Mexico, Central and South America. The true wild Muscovy Duck is blackish with white wing patches. They have a habitat of urban and suburban lakes, and on farms, nesting in trees or on the ground under shrubs.  In the US it is an invasive species, an owner may raise them for food production only. They feed on roots, stems, leaves, and seeds of aquatic plants. They also eat small fish, crustaceans, and insects.

 

Black Bellied Whistling Duck Bird – Swimmers – 12/25/2013

The Black-Bellied Whistling Duck was photographed at San Antonio, Texas, a normal year-round area for the duck.

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The Black-Bellied Whistling Duck is a goose-like rusty duck with black belly, broad white patch on forewing, bright coral-red bill, and long pink legs. The immature has grayer bill, legs, and belly. It has a pale eye-ring. It has a range of Texas and Arizona to Northern Argentina. It has a habitat of ponds, lakes and fresh marshes; favors shallow fresh water lakes and ponds with trees. It feeds mainly on seeds and grains, and some insects, and snails.

 

Fulvous Whistling Duck – Swimmers – 12/25/2013

The Fulvous Whistling Duck was photographed at the San Antonio, Texas Zoo

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The Fulvous Whistling Duck is tan with a dark bill and legs, a dark back, a pale side stripe, and a white rump. It is a tawny goose-like duck that is found grazing in open fields or tipping up in shallow ponds. It has a range from Southern United States (Texas to Florida coasts) to Central America. It has a habitat in marshes, mostly coastal. It feeds on mostly seeds and aquatic plants.

 

Hooded Merganser Duck Bird – Swimmers – 12/29/2010

The black and white fan shaped crest and the white patches on the wings recognizes the male Hooded Merganser.

The brown fan shaped crest, the white patches on the wings, and the spike-liked bill recognizes the female Hooded Merganser.

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The male Hooded Merganser has a vertical fan-shaped white crest, a white breast with two black bars on each side, wings with white patches, and brown flanks. The female has a loose tawny crest, a brown head, bill, and chest, and dark wings with white patches. Note the spikelike bill. The fan shaped crest may be raised or lowered. The range is from southeaster Alaska, southern Canada, and Midwest to eastern United States. It has a habitat on wooded lakes, ponds, and rivers. The diet is mainly eating fish. The Hooded is the smallest of the Mergansers and seems to be the least numerous, because it tends to live around swamps and wooded ponds where it may be overlooked or not seen.

 

Redhead Duck Bird – Swimmers – 3/3/2013

The Redhead Duck was photographed on Lake Michigan at the Bayview Park in Bayview, Wisconsin

The female Redhead Duck photographed with other ducks while feeding in a small patch of water not frozen

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The male Redhead Duck is gray with a black chest, a round rufous head, and a bluish bill with black tip. The female Redhead Duck is brownish with a bluish bill with a black tip, and a suffused light patch near the bill. It has a range from west Canada, and west and north central of the United States, and the Great Lakes. It has a habitat around fresh marshes, lakes, and saltwater bays. The diet is mainly leaves, stems, seeds, and roots of aquatic plants.

 

 

American Black Duck -Swimmers – 3/16/2012

The American Black Duck was photographed behind the Calatrava Art Museum on Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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The American Black Duck is very dark with white wing linings. It has a dark head, grayish throat, and a green-yellow (male) or olive bill (fem). It has a range of the Northeastern North America to the Gulf Coast. It has habitats in marshes, bays, estuaries, ponds, rivers, and lakes. The diet consists of plant material, seeds, leaves, roots, berries, mussels, clams, snails, and insects. It dabbles for food, but rarely dives.