Ducks Who's Who?

During the winter, its common to see more than mallards in the lakes. Many other waterfowl species can be seen, the problem is that a lot of them have black/white or brown/white colourations. Here are some similar species that can be found and how to ID them:

Common Goldeneye: As the name suggests, look for the bright golden eye. The males of this species will also have a white pact between its eye and its beak. The females will have no patches on its face, and instead will have a solid brown colour.

Bufflehead: This duck will have dark eyes. The males will have a white fan shaped patch that will start behinds its eye and continue to the back of its head. The female will also have a white patch but its smaller and located more on their cheeks. The female again will be brown in colour for most of its body.

Hooded Merganser: This species is kind of a mix between the other two. The males will have bright orange/yellow eyes like the goldeneye. They will also have a white patch that fans out behind its eye like the bufflehead, but the white will not reach the back of its head. The females will be brown with not white on its face. Both male and females will also look like they have a mohawk that gives them their hooded name.