Help to confirm ID on Female Ducks

[slimrbp]

I took some photos from the London Wetland centre at the weekend and would appreciate some help confirming id's on the females.

Female Teal (if you look closely there is a flash of green on the speculum)?


This one has me stumped I am pretty certain it's a Gadwall but Female or Male Eclipse



Thanks in advance.

[Dogghound]

1. Teal
2. Gadwall

[diggleken]

Teal and Gadwall are correct, the gadwall is a female in my view as the strong orangeness of the beak and browner feathers than male, plus eclipse is in late summer, not now.
Cheers
Ken

[slimrbp]

Thank you both, much appreciated.

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by diggleken

the gadwall is a female in my view as the strong orangeness of the beak and browner feathers than male, plus eclipse is in late summer, not now.

At this time of year the difficulty is in distinguishing between females and first year males! Adult males of most duck species will generally show no more than (at most) traces of the duller eclipse plumage at this time of year. Young males on the other hand typically do not start to show any signs of the plumage of adult males until the second half of the winter (sometime not until late February or March). In can be very difficult to see any difference between juvenile males and adult/juvenile females at this time of year - and unless you really need to know for a serious study it generally isn't worth trying!

[diggleken]

Quite right Roy, but on balance, thats a female, reasons as stated.
Cheers
Ken

[RoyW]

Originally Posted by diggleken

Quite right Roy, but on balance, thats a female, reasons as stated.
Cheers
Ken

(bold highlights added).

But you haven't given any reason to exclude a juvenile male (granted, most should show some more male like feathering by this time of year - but this is not necessarily the case).