Our family went hiking last week in Mary S. Young State Park along an inlet of the Willamette River. There was a group of ducks swimming around. This duck’s black eye-stripe and orange and black beak were both obvious clues that it is a female Mallard. Male Mallards have bright green heads with light-colored bodies- the same ones that we see at parks all over the U.S.
A few feet away was this duck. It looks like a female Mallard, but something isn’t quite right. Can you see what is wrong with this picture? Look at the beak. Female Mallards don’t have yellow beaks, so something else must be going on here.
I believe that this duck is in ‘eclipse’ plumage, as described by Charlie at 10,000 Birds. In mid-summer the males all molt and lose their feathers. When this happens, they can’t fly away so they can’t easily protect themselves. Charlie explains:
Temporarily unable to escape predators by flying away, many male ducks have opted to do what the females do for most of the year and merge safely into the background…
The males pretend to be females! Eventually their regular male feathers grow back in and life returns to normal.
Cool! I’ve never (to my knowledge) seen a male in eclipse plumage, but I have seen what’s sort of the opposite – a mallard that looks mostly male but has an orange bill and brown cheeks. Apparently as females age, their estrogen levels drop, and their plumage starts to look more like the boys’.
Great photos, It looks awesome on the first photo
Neat find, the male in eclipse plumage!
I learned something about ducks today. Thanks.
Well done! It took me about four years of birding before I realized that male mallards do that. Great photos showing the difference.
Great images! First one is really nice.
Terrific shots.
Love the color of the pond water, moss green. Wonderful shots
Definitely, I learned something bout mystery of ducks. Great post!
Those are beautiful photos you got. I like ducks. I learned something new about it from your post about them. The green water is cool too.
Great shots, and thanks for the info! I sensed something was odd about the pictures, but could not have said what. So glad you explained it…
Lynette
Lovely macro ducks, I watched on TV how spca men went to rescue duckling that got into the storm water drain. I must go to my park to see if ducklings have been hatched.
Interesting information about the male coloration. Our mallards here are so mixed up
thanks for your informative post. i learned something new today. i love the color of the water in that pond, so green.
have a great weekend!
Good find Mike! And nice photos to back it up!
Oh, that’s so neat! My son has been talking to me about how the males sometimes have feathers which look like a female’s feathers. He noticed that they have been turning green again. I didn’t know why they did that, and it’s so interesting to learn! Thank you!
[...] their feathers this time of year and look a lot like the females. I suppose this is similar to what male mallards do, though it may be for different [...]