Water Fowl and Other Water Birds
Common Loon
· Also known as the Great Northern Diver
· Breeds in parts in Canada, northern U.S, Greenland and Alaska
· The weight can vary from 3.6 to 17.6 lbs.
· On average a Common Loon is about 32 inches long, has a wingspan of 54 inches, and weighs about 9 lbs.
Horned Grebe
· Also known as the Slavonian Grebe
· On averabe a Horned Grebe is about 12–15 in long with a 46–55 cm wingspan.
· Like all grebes, it nests on the water's edge, since its legs are set very far back and it cannot walk well.
· The Horned Grebe breeds in vegetated areas of freshwater lakes across Europe and Asia. It also breeds in remote inland parts of the United States and much of Canada.
· Most birds migrate in the winter to the coast. During this time, the Horned Grebe is mainly white with a sharply defined blackl cap.
Pied-billed Grebe
· The Pied-billed Grebe breeds across Canada, parts of the United States, and temperate South America.
· The most widespread of North American grebes, it is found on remote ponds, marshes, and sluggish streams.
· The Pied-billed Grebe is small at 12"-15" in length, stocky, and short-necked. It is usually brown or gray in color. It has a short, blunt chicken-like bill, which in summer is encircled by a broad black band (hence the name). It is the only grebe that does not show a white wing patch in flight.
Double-crested Cormorant
· The Double-crested Cormorant is a large black bird 29"–36" long, with a wingspan up to 52".
· It has a long tail and a yellow throat-patch, and can appear to have a green sheen in certain lighting.
· The white double head crest is seen for a short period during the breeding season in western birds; it is duller in eastern birds.
· Once threatened by use of DDT, the numbers of this bird have increased markedly in recent years.
Great Blue Heron
· The Great Blue Heron is common all over North and Central as well as the West Indies and the Galapagos, except in the desert where there is no water for them to wade in.
· Great Blue Herons can be found in a range of habitats, in fresh and saltwater marshes, mangrove swamps, flooded meadows, lake edges, or shorelines, but they always live near bodies of water.
· It’s diet consists of frogs, fish, insects, snakes, turtles, rodents, and other small birds.
Green Heron
· The Green Heron is a relatively small bird, adult body length is 44cm.
· Adults have a glossy, greenish-black cap, a greenish back and wings that are grey-black grading into green or blue, a chestnut neck with a white line down the front, grey underparts and short yellow legs. The bill is dark with a long, sharp point.
· Female adults tend to be smaller than males, and have duller and lighter plumage, particularly in the breeding season.
· Their breeding habitat is small wetlands in eastern and midwest North America, Central America, the West Indies and the Pacific coast of Canada and the United States.
Black-crowned Night-Heron
· Adults are 64 cm long and weigh 800 g.
· They have a black crown and back with the remainder of the body white or grey, red eyes, and short yellow legs. Young birds are brown, flecked with white and grey.
· The breeding habitat is fresh and salt-water wetlands throughout much of the world.
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
· Adults are 61 cm long and weigh 625 g.
· They have a white crown and back with the remainder of the body greyish, red eyes and short yellow legs. They also have a white stripe below the eye.
· Their breeding habitat is swamps and marshes in the eastern United States to north-eastern South America.
· These birds stalk their prey or stand still at the water's edge and wait to ambush prey, mainly at night. They mainly eat crustaceans, mollusks, frogs, aquatic insects and small fish.
Canada Goose
· This species is 30-43 in long with a 50-71 in wing span.
· Males usually weigh 7–14 pounds, and can be very aggressive in defending territory. The female looks virtually identical but is slightly lighter at 5.5–12 pounds, and has a different honk.
· These birds feed mainly on plant material. When feeding in water, they submerge their heads and necks to reach aquatic plants.
· Flocks of these birds often feed on leftover cultivated grains in fields, especially during migration or in winter.
Wood Duck
· Also known as the Carolina Duck.
· A typical adult is about 19 inches in length with an average wingspan of 29 inches.
· The adult male has distinctive multi-colored iridescent plumage and red eyes. The female, less colorful, has a white eye-ring and a whitish throat. Both adults have crested heads.
· When swimming, wood ducks bob their head back and forth in a jerking motion, which makes them easy to spot.
· Their breeding habitat is wooded swamps, shallow lakes, marshes or ponds in eastern North America, the west coast of the United States and western Mexico.
Green-winged Teal
· It breeds in the northern areas of North America.
· The breeding male has grey flanks and back, with a yellow rear end and a white-edged green speculum, obvious in flight or at rest. It has a chestnut head with a green eye patch.
· The females are light brown, with plumage much like a female Mallard. They can be distinguished from most ducks on size and shape, and the speculum.
· It is a common duck of sheltered wetlands, such as taiga bogs, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing. It nests on the ground, near water and under cover.
American Black Duck
· The adult male has a yellow bill, a dark body, lighter head and neck, orange legs and dark eyes. The adult female has a similar appearance.
· Their breeding habitat is lakes, ponds, rivers, marshes and other aquatic environments in eastern Canada including the Great Lakes, and the Adirondacks in the U.S.
· The Black Duck has long been valued as a game bird, being quite wary and fast on the wing. Although this is a species of least concern, it is slowly declining due to overhunting and habitat destruction.
Mallard
· Also known as the Wild Duck.
· The Mallard breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical areas of North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
· Probably the best-known of all ducks, it gave rise to most domestic ducks, apart from the Muscovy Duck. Mallards also look like Call Ducks, but are larger in size.
· The male has a green head, black rear and a blue speculum edged with white, prominent in flight or at rest. The male also has a yellow bill with a black tip.
· The female mallard is light brown like most female dabbling ducks. It has a dark brown bill.
Northern Pintail
· Breeds in the northern areas of Europe and Asia and across most of Canada, Alaska and the mid-western United States.
· This dabbling duck is strongly migratory and winters further south than its breeding range, as far as the equator
· The male has a pale grey body, white breast and lateral neck stripe, and dark brown head.
· The females are light brown with a whiter throat, and their pointed tail is shorter, but they are easily identified by their shape, long neck, and long all grey bill.
Gadwall
· The Gadwall is 46-56 cm long with a 78-90 cm wingspan.
· The breeding male is a beautifully patterned grey, with a black rear end and a brilliant white speculum, obvious in flight or at rest. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female.
· The females are light brown, with plumage much like a female Mallard. They can be distinguished from that species by the dark orange-edged bill, smaller size, and lack of an obvious speculum.
· The Gadwall breeds in the northern areas of Europe and Asia and central North America.
Canvasback
· The Canvasback is a large diving duck, 48-60 cm long and weighing 1270 g.
· The adult male has a black bill, a red head and neck, a black breast, red eyes and a whitish body.
· The adult female has a brown head and body and a black bill.
· Their breeding habitat is North American prairie wetlands.
· Canvasbacks are strongly migratory and overwinter on the coasts of the United States, the Great Lakes and British Columbia in saltwater bays, estuaries or lakes.
Common Goldeneye
· Adult males ranges from 18-21 inches and from 1.9 to 3.1 lbs, while females range from 16-20 inches and from 1.1 to 2.6 lbs.
· The species is aptly named for it's golden-yellow eye.
· Adult males have a dark head with a greenish gloss and a circular white patch below the eye, a dark back and a white neck and belly.
· Adult females have a brown head and a mostly grey body.
· They are found in the lakes and rivers of boreal forests across Canada and the northern United States, Scandinavia and northern Russia .
Bufflehead
· They range from 12.5-16 inches and 9.5 oz.-1.2 lbs, with the drakes larger than the females.
· Adult males have a dark head with a large white cap behind the eye and a mainly white body with a black back.
· Adult females have a brown head with a smaller white patch behind the eye and a mainly brown body.
· The name Bufflehead is a combination of buffalo and head, referring to the oddly bulbous head shape of the species.
Hooded Merganser
· Hooded Mergansers have a crest at the back of the head which can be expanded or contracted.
· In adult males, this crest has a large white patch, the head is black and the sides are reddish brown.
· The adult female has a reddish crest, with much of the rest of the head and body a greyish-brown.
· Their breeding habitat is swamps and wooded ponds on the northern half of the United States or southern Canada.
· They prefer to nest in tree cavities near water but will use Wood Duck nesting boxes if available and unoccupied.
Common Merganser
· Is a large sized duck, which is distributed over Europe, North Asia and North America. It is most common on lakes and rivers.
· Males and females are easily distinguished, since the male merganser has a dark green head, while the head of the female is reddish-brown.
· The Common Merganser is 70 cm long with a 78-94 cm wingspan.
· These large fish-eaters have serrated edges to their bills to help them grip their prey.
· They also eat mussels and shrimps; young birds mainly eat aquatic insects.
Ruddy Duck
· Adult males have a rust-red body, a blue bill, and a white face with a black cap.
· Adult females have a grey-brown body with a greyish face with a darker bill, cap and a cheek stripe.
· Their breeding habitat is marshy lakes and ponds throughout much of North America.
· These birds dive and swim underwater. They mainly eat seeds and roots of aquatic plants, aquatic insects and crustaceans.
American Coot
· About 16 inches in length and weighing 1.4 lb, adults have a short thick white bill and white frontal shield, with a reddish-brown spot near the base of the bill between the eyes.
· The body is grey with the head and neck darker than the rest of the body. Their legs are yellowish, with scalloped toes rather than webbed feet.
· Their chicks have black bodies with bright red head and beak, and orange plumes around the neck.
· Their breeding habitat is marshes from southern Quebec to the Pacific coast of North America and as far south as northern South America.
Killdeer
· Adults have a brown back and wings, a white belly, and a white breast with two black bands. The rump is tawny orange. The face and cap are brown with a white forehead. They have an orange-red eyering.
· The chicks are patterned almost identically to the adults, and are precocial — able to move around right after hatching.
· Their breeding habitat is open fields or lawns, often quite far from water, across most of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, with isolated populations in Costa Rica and Peru. Killdeer nest on open ground, often on gravel.
· Their name comes from their frequently heard call. These birds will frequently use the "broken-wing act" to distract predators from their nests.
Belted Kingfisher
· This bird's breeding habitat is areas near inland bodies of waters or coasts across most of Canada, Alaska and the United States.
· It is 28–32 cm long, with deep blue or bluish-grey plumage with white markings, a shaggy crest and a broad white collar around the neck.
· These birds nest in a horizontal tunnel made in a river bank or sand bank. The female lays 5 to 8 eggs. Both parents excavate the tunnel, incubate the eggs and feed the young.
Fish Crow
Cedar Waxwing