Ducks suck

 

These ducks, for example:

 

They’re on the pond in front of our coach.  Obviously, they’re Redhead Ducks.  Their heads are kind of red.  Males look like this, (even though they’re not in our pond right now):

 

The ones in the first photo are duller, so they must be females.

 

But wait.  There are white scallops behind the bills.  Nonbreeding Female Scaup and Ringneck Ducks have that white scallop behind the bill; like this file photo:

 

Redhead Ducks don’t, so theses ducks must be Lesser Scaup or Ringneck Ducks.

 

Ringneck Ducks have a very pointed head, so it can’t be them. These must be female Lesser Scaup.  Their heads are kind of red and they have white on their face behind the bill.

 

But wait another minute.  Lesser Scaup heads aren’t as pointed as a Ringneck Duck, but they still have a sharp spot on the back of the head.  These ducks don’t, their heads are round, so they must be Redhead Ducks.

 

If only they didn’t all have that white on the face.  None of the books show white on Redhead Duck faces.  I wonder if Scaup and Redhead Ducks ever interbreed.

 

They’re right out front of the coach.  We have the bird book in our hand.  How hard could it be?

 

Yeah.  Ducks definitely suck.