Gadwall?

[2dogs2000]

I saw a few of these yesterday and I think it is a gadwall. Can someone confirm or correct me please?



It is with a female mallard and according to my RSPB book the gadwall is smaller than the mallard. The ones I saw were a bit bigger than a mallard.

[solus]

That's Mr and Mrs Gadwall you've got there.

Male at the back, female in front - note the white speculum (coloured patch on the wing) which is diagnostic of Gadwall.

[Dogghound]

Agreed Gadwall.

[2dogs2000]

That's even better than I thought. I didn't even try to identify what I knew was a female mallard. That also explains the difference in size.

Thank you.

[thebeard]

haha, the female is distinguishable from other dowdy female wild ducks from its pale beak and white speculum (at least thats how i do it). they have funny deep quacks too. one of my favourite ducks

[Dogghound]

The female bill has a distinct stripe along the culmen (upper part of bill), tends to be more variable and uneven on a mallard. (Not seen here).

[2dogs2000]

Guess what? Just looked at my other photos from yesterday and here is one showing that mallards are bigger than gadwalls.



I think I just wrongly assumed it was a female mallard without looking at it properly. There were a lot of mallards about and the difference between the female mallard and female gadwall isn't that obvious at first glance, that I didn't even think it might be something else.

Thank you all.

[Dogghound]

Yes both the birds on the left are Gadwall, they are slightly smaller.