 Hey everybody, thanks for watching today. I put this video together for two reasons. Number one, to help educate those interested in the variety of sounds each duck makes, and also to have a recording of live duck sounds to practice to for those trying to call waterfowl in. Hope you enjoyed this video. Please consider subscribing and let's get started. American Widgen. Both males and females have a bluish black tipped bill. Male American Widgens have a white patch from the forehead to the middle of the crown, and an iridescent green band from the eye to the back of the head. They have a pinkish brown breast and sides that are separated from the black undertale coverts by white flank feathers. In flight, the white shoulder patch is diagnostic. The legs and feet are blue gray to dark gray. Female American Widgen have a gray head with a brownish black crown and brownish chest and sides. The legs and feet are blue gray to dark gray. American Widgen are aquatic grazers and forage on grasses and sedges in wet meadows and pastures. Blue wing till. Male blue wing till have a slate gray head and neck, a black edged white crescent in front of the eyes, and a blackish crown. The breasts and sides are tan with dark brown speckles, and there is a white spot on the side of the rump. Most of the upper covert wings are blue gray. The secondaries form an iridescent green speculum, and the underwing is whitish. The bill is black and the legs and feet are yellowish to orange. Female blue wing till have a brownish gray head with a darker crown and eye strip. The breasts and sides are brown. The upper parts are all brown and the upper wing coverts are bluish but less vibrant than the drake. The bill is gray black and the legs and feet are dull yellow brown. The female has a high-pitched squeak. Blue wing till dabble to feet on the vegetated parts of aquatic plants such as algae, duckweeds, pondweeds, etc. Seeds, sedges, pondweeds, grasses, and large amounts of aquatic invertebrates found in shallow flooded wetlands. Cinnamon till. Male cinnamon till have a cinnamon red head, neck, breast, and belly. They have an iridescent green speculum which is separated from a bluish shoulder patch by a white strip. The back, rump, upper tail coverts, and tail are a dull brown, and the undertail coverts are black. They have a distinctive red eye, a black bill, and yellow legs and feet. Female cinnamon till are often confused with female blue wing till. They have a duller brown shoulder patch, an overall rustier color, and are more heavily streaked. In North America, cinnamon till are among the least abundant dabbling ducks with estimated breeding populations ranging from 100,000 to 300,000. Cinnamon till dabble on aquatic plants in shallow water areas especially rush seeds, pondweed seeds, and leaves and salt grass seeds. They also feed on animal food especially aquatic insects. Gadwall. Gadwalls are medium sized ducks characterized by a general lack of bright coloration. Male gadwalls are a gray brown with a white belly and a black rump. In flight, a white speculum and chestnut and black portions on the wing coverts are displayed. The bill is slight gray and the legs and feet are yellow. Female gadwalls are similar to males but have a model brown appearance, a yellowish bill with dark spots and a smaller white speculum. Aquatic vegetation make up the majority of the gadwalls diet. As a result, they are often found feeding far from the shoreline and deeper water than most other dabbling ducks. Gadwall up in to feed on leafy portions of pondweed, nide, widgen grass, water millfoil, and algae as well as the seeds of pondweed, smartweed, bullrush, and spike rush. They also feed on aquatic invertebrates such as crustaceans and midges. Green wing till. Green wing till are the smallest of our North American dabbling ducks with a short neck and small bill. Male green wing till have a chestnut head with an iridescent green to purple patch extending from the eyes to the nape of the neck. The chest is pinkish brown with black speckles and the back, sides, and flanks are vermiculated gray separated from the chest by a white bar. The wing coverts are brownish gray with a green speculum. The bill is dark slate and the legs and feet are dark gray. Female green wing till are mottled brown with a dark brown line that extends from the bill through the eye. The bill is dark gray and the legs and feet are all gray to brownish gray. Green wing till feed on seeds of sedges, smartweeds, pondweeds, grasses, aquatic insects, crustaceans, and tadboles found while foraging in and adjacent to mud flats or while dabbling in shallow water. Mallard. The mallard is one of the most recognized of all ducks and is the ancestor of several domestic breeds. Its wide range has given rise to several distinct populations. The male mallard's white neck ring separates the green head from the chestnut brown chest, contrast with the gray sides, brownish back, black rump, and black upper and undertale coverts. The speculum is violent blue, bordered by black and white, and the outer tail feathers are white. The billows yellow to yellowish green and the legs and feet are coral red. The female mallard is a mottled brownish color and has a violet speculum bordered by black and white. The crown of the head is dark brown with a dark brown stripe running through the eye. The remainder of the head is lighter brown than the upper body. The bill is orange splotched with brown and the legs and feet are orange. Mallard's dabble to feed on seeds, rootlets, and tubers of aquatic plants off swamp and river bottoms. Northern Pentel Northern Pentels are long slender ducks with long narrow wings earning them the nickname gray hound of the air. Pentels are named for their elongated central tail feathers which constitute one-fourth of the Drake's body length. Male northern pentels have a chocolate brown head with a white stripe on each side of the neck extending them from the white breast and belly. The back is blackish gray and the rump has a white patch on each side. Two of the long central tail feathers are black while the others are gray margined by white inflight. An iridescent greenish black speculum is displayed. The bill is blue gray with a black stripe along the center to the tip and the legs and feet are slight gray. Female northern pentels have a dark brown upper body with a buff or gray head and lower body. The speculum is a dull brown or bronze. The bill is blue gray blotched with black and the legs and feet are slight gray. Pentel's dabble and up end to feed on the seeds and nutlets of moist soil and aquatic plants. They also make extensive use of waste grain. Northern shoveler. Perhaps the most visible diagnostic characteristic of the northern shoveler is its large spoon shaped bill which widens toward the tip and creates a shape unique among the North American waterfowl. Male northern shovelers have an iridescent green head and neck, white chest and breast and chestnut belly and sides. They have a white stripe extending from the breast along the margin of the gray brown black and white fling spots. The wings have a gray blue shoulder patch which is separated from a brilliant green speculum by a tapered white stripe. The bill is black and breeding plumage and the legs and feet are orange. Female northern shovelers have a light brownish head with a blackish crown and a brownish speckled body. The upper wing covarts are grayish blue. The greater secondary covarts are tipped with white and the secondaries are brown with a slightish greenish sheen. The bill is olive green with fleshy orange in the gape area and speckled with black dots. Northern shovelers feed by dabbling and sifting in shallow water. Seeds of sedges, bulrushes, sawgrass, smartweeds, pondweeds, algae and duckweeds as well as aquatic insects and crustaceans are consumed by filtering water which is taken in at the bill tip and jetted out at the base. Wood duck. Male wood ducks have a crested head that is iridescent green and purple with a white stripe leading from the eye to the end of the crest and another narrower white strip from the base of the bill to the tip of the crest. The throat is white and the chest is burgundy with white flecks gradually grating into a white belly. The bill is brightly patterned black, white and red. The legs and feet are a dull straw yellow and the iris is red. Female wood ducks have a gray brown head and neck with brownish green glossed crest. A white teardrop shaped patch surrounds the brownish black eye. The throat is white and the breast is gray brown, stippled with white fading into the white belly. The black is all around with the shimmer of iridescent green. The bill is blue gray and the legs and feet are a dull grayish yellow. Reliable estimates of wood duck populations do not exist due to the difficulty of surveying birds in forested habitat. Though data from the breeding survey 1966 to 1994 and Christmas bird count 1959 to 1988 indicate increasing populations in nearly all regions of North America. Harlequin. The male harlequin is very distinct and can be confused with no other waterfowl species. The basic body color is a deep slate blue enlivened by white stripes, crescents and spots on the head, neck and scapulars. The sides and flanks are chestnut colored. The bill is blue gray with a pale nail and the legs and feet are grayish. Female harlequin ducks resemble female buffalo heads except for the three white spots on the head. The hen's basic color is black brown. There also is an oblong white spot behind the eye instead of the circular one seen on buffalo heads. Female harlequins are also duskier and larger and in flight show no white patches on their wings as buffalo heads do. The harlequin duck is abundant during the breeding season in a few regions within its range but only in remote areas inaccessible to most people in the Aleutian Islands. Harlequin ducks dive to feed on crustaceans and mollusks, insects, small fish and roe found in riverine and marine habitats. Long tailed duck or old squaw. The old squaw duck is a slim brightly plumaged sea duck. Smaller than the scooters or iders. Flight is swift and low with constantly changing bunched flock formations. Old squaw ducks have a very long complex cycle of plumages. In winter, long tailed duck drakes have a white head, neck and upper breast with a gray cheek patch and a large black patch below the cheek. The drake's body is white and black. During the breeding season, the drake's head is black with a white gray cheek and eye patch. The hen has a brown head and a body with a white patch around the eye and white under the tail. In all plumages, long tailed ducks have dark wings and the drakes have long central tail feathers. They are very vocal with their yodeling voice carrying across tundra and coastal habitats. Old squaw ducks are excellent divers with their favorite food being crustaceans and mollusk. Redhead Male redheads have a reddish head and upper neck with a black lower neck, four back and breast. The remaining back is a dark grayish color. The hind back and tail are brownish black. A broad band of light gray extends across the dusky gray wing and out onto the primaries which help distinguish it from scott. The legs and feet are gray and the bill is light blue gray with a whitish band behind a relatively white black tip. Female redheads have a reddish brown head, neck and breast with a buff white chin and throat and an indistinct eye ring and stripe behind the eye. The flanks are warm brown, contrasting little with the breast but with buffer fringes. The upper parts are darker and duller brown with the upper wing covered browner than on the male. Otherwise the wing is similar to that of the male. The bill is duller than the males but similar in pattern. Redheads dive to feed on seeds, rhizomes, tubers of pondweeds, wild celery, water lilies, grasses and wild rice. They also feed on mollusks, aquatic insects and small fish. Hope you guys enjoyed this video. If you did give it a thumbs up and we'll see you guys on the next one.