Quack Attack II - Exploring More of BC's Dabblers & Divers

Following the almost viral success of Quack Attack, (ok a very slow virus), I’ve decided to publish Quack Attack II, to take a look at the other ducks who show up in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia from time to time.

As before, I’ll group the ducks into dabblers and divers.

As a reminder, dabblers float on the surface and pop their head underwater for food, but don’t generally dive for it. These are the generic ducks that we feed and watch as they stick their butts in the air to grab a sinking seed. The divers dive under the surface for their food, so you’ll see them go down and reappear a few seconds or minutes later, often with a juicy morsel.

THE DABBLERS

First, a quick word on Teals. There are 3 types of Teals found in North America – Green-winged, Blue-winged and Cinnamon. As a group, Teals are small ducks known for their quick flights and tight maneuvers. They all like to wade through the mud in shallow water. They are quite promiscuous apparently and Teal hybrids are not uncommon.

We’ve already met the Green Winged Teal in Quack Attack. His cousins, the Cinnamon and Blue Winged Teals, are less common in my part of the world. However, according to Ducks Unlimited, the Blue-winged Teal is the second most common duck found in North America after the Mallard, (which is TWICE its size!)

Cinnamon Teal

Not long ago, I found myself at Lee’s Crossing in the Grand Canyon taking a few scenic photos. Three weeks later, back home editing photos, I spotted two tiny brown dots on the Colorado River and after a ridiculous amount of cropping, “voila”, those fuzzy dots were Cinnamon Teals!

These dabblers are present all down the west coast of the continent and while they certainly aren’t common in my neck of the woods, they’re not endangered.

Blue Winged Teal

These teals should be renamed “The Incredibly Large White Vertical Crescent on The Side of The Face Just Behind the Beak, Teal”, because that white crescent, plus a distinct gray/purple head is the best ID feature. There IS a blue colour visible on the shoulders in flight, but it’s often not seen on the water. Makes me wonder how they decide on bird names; what’s wrong with “White-faced, or White Crescent, Teal”? Interestingly DNA studies show them to be almost identical to Cinnamon Teals, so presumably, they have diverged fairly recently from an evolution standpoint.

Like all Teals, Blue-winged Teals are mud dabblers and can be seen at different times of the year throughout North America. They are migratory so you are only going to see them in the summer months.

Gadwall

Gadwalls are plain old ducks with no fancy colouring and it’s easy to ignore them, but I visited a good “Gadwall spot” in spring and found some males and females interacting, calling and generally getting quite frisky. A closer look reveals uniform light brown plumage with a darker brown scalp and white-edged black tail feathers on the males. They look quite sharp and I started to appreciate their elegance. Yes, the plumage is plain, but it’s classy, like a senior banker with a conservative, double-breasted suit.

Northern Shoveler

Shovelers are dabblers who often congregate in small groups, staying away from the shore and swimming in circles with bills submerged, presumably “shovelling” munchies off the bottom.

The female Northern Shoveler looks like a female mallard with an unfortunately large schnoz. The first time I saw a female I scratched my head, “sheesh that’s a big bill, is that a mallard?!” I was in some doubt until a male showed up. He’s a handsome fellow, carrying that big bill with aplomb. His colouring is characteristic – a big green head on a white neck and chest with chestnut brown lower torso and chalky blue upper wings.

The birds are well-named because yes, that bill is a shovel!

THE DIVERS

The divers constitute a large group of sea birds and if we start to look beyond ducks, there’s a long list of eider-ducks, scoters, grebes, cormorants and more. Let’s focus on the ducks.

Lesser Scaup and Greater Scaup

Scaups are diving ducks who tend to stay away from the shore. They go after invertebrates and small fish. They should be called the oreo-cookie twins – black on the outside, white in the middle. With a master’s degree in ornithology, they are easy to tell apart, but for we mere mortals it’s a struggle, but there are clues:

The Greater Scaup is larger – though not much.
The Greater Scaup’s bill is wider with a slightly larger black nail on the end
The Lesser Scaup has a longer thinner, straighter neck, while the Greater Scaup looks more “hunched” – it’s subtle, but I find this the best clue.
The Greater Scaup favours salt water – so in freshwater lakes, The Lesser Scaup is more likely, but it’s not an absolute rule!

You get the idea. Lacking that master’s degree myself, I just don’t sweat it!

In truth, they are very close genetically and will share a habitat. As a group, scaups “get around” and are somewhat promiscuous, so yes, there are hybrids, but they maintain distinct populations and research shows they are not blending back to just one species. They know who’s who, but they love to party sometimes and well, accidents happen.

Harlequin Ducks

When I wrote Quack Attack, I got an indignant, (and actually quite rude) message, accusing me of incompetence because I left out the Harlequin Duck!

Well, sir, in my area of the Lower Mainland, I never see Harlequins! The only sighting I’ve had on the Mainland is at Porteau Cove, near Squamish. They are more common on the Gulf Islands, Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii.

Harlequin Ducks off the West Coast of Canada

Harlequins are diving sea ducks that eat small invertebrates and fish. They’re pretty tough little guys who like rugged coastlines where they get jostled around the rocks by the surf – very jostled apparently, as I recently read an article noting that they often show evidence of old limb fractures! Harlequins

Sadly, Harlequins are in decline due to habitat loss & pollution.

Red Breasted Merganser

These are diving ducks, similar to but smaller than the Common Merganser.

The males have a green head and white neck, while the females have a brown head and white neck. That is similar to common mergansers, but from the lower neck to the breast, the colour changes to a chestnut red, thus the name. They will come in close to shore to catch small fish and seem more laid back than common mergansers – at least I haven’t witnessed the fish fights so typical of common mergansers!

Canvasback

Another “Oreo-cookie duck”, but brown at the head end. Largish diving ducks, Canvasbacks have a flattened forehead that tapers into a longish beak. The shape is unique, making them easy to identify.

This year there’s been a pair at Brydon Pond, plus many at Surrey Lake, so I’ve been seeing them more often. They’re widespread throughout North America and not endangered. The only danger to them is from lead shot which they pick up when filter-feeding in the mud at a lake bottom. My photos show a male trying to subdue and eat a small fish, plus a photo that highlights the characteristic head shape.

Barrow’s Goldeneye

These divers are much rarer than the Common Goldeneyes in my area. They favour saltwater and I’ve spotted them around Stanley Park in Vancouver. The wing is black, with a clear, ladder-like black and white pattern on the lower edge of the wing. They stay in compact groups diving for small prey.

Unlike the Scaups, Barrow’s and Common Goldeneyes are easy to tell apart.

Yes, there are more ducks, but this batch of quackers will cover most of the ducks you’re likely to spot.

Before I was an avid birder, I used to walk by a pond or lake casually noting that there were a lot of ducks without really noticing the variety. Now, it’s a different world. Every time we are out for a walk we will notice a dozen or more different species of waterfowl and other birds. With a bit of practice, you may find yourself picking out some of the dabblers from the divers at your own favourite duck pond.