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I posted this on DHC too just to get more eyes on it.

I found this duck at the launch this morning after my hunt. I have seen these twice on the water and once in the air flying alone and never knew what it was, but I knew it wasn't something that I wanted. Looks like someone shot it and decided it wasn't something they wanted to be caught with so I snapped a picture to see what it is. It must have been from opening day because the eyes seem to be shriveled away, but the dried part seems to look orangish red?

Hen wood duck. Shot a few if them so far this year.

Yep looks an awful lot like a hen woody.

That's a shame. Wood ducks are darn good eating. Might be a yearling hen from the looks of it.

Originally I was pissed, I mean who can't ID a wood duck??


But after reflecting for a few minutes, I have to say Kudos to Eric. Too many arseholes indiscriminately blast stuff without knowing what they are shooting, and just ground check them.
Good on you for laying off a bird you can't positively ID...now that you know, terminate with extreme prejudice.

DeadEye_Dan wrote:Originally I was pissed, I mean who can't ID a wood duck??


But after reflecting for a few minutes, I have to say Kudos to Eric. Too many arseholes indiscriminately blast stuff without knowing what they are shooting, and just ground check them.
Good on you for laying off a bird you can positively ID...now that you know, terminate with extreme prejudice.

Yeah, I would never indiscriminately blast some unidentified bird on the water in our decoys at first light. Thank god it wasn't a grebe

It's only a grebe if somebody sees it.

Oh, and according to government biologists at the National Zoo in DC, that's a drake Greenwing Teal.

assateague wrote:It's only a grebe if somebody sees it.

Funny, that's how I met jgun....allegedly

assateague wrote:It's only a grebe if somebody sees it.

FYI, there is no such thing as a piebill grebe. They are actually brown wing teal. The cops are in a conspiracy about it to generate revenue for Fish and Game and the DNR (where there are DNR). Well, at least that's what a guy at the boat ramp told me. Think it will hold up in court. He did mention he had been duck hunting 5 years and pretty much knew all about duck ID. Also, he said he was originally from Cali and a Spooney Pro guide.

Judging from what it looks like grebes eat (don't actually know, just guessing), I don't think I'd want to eat one anyways so they just get to add a little motion in the decoys for me.

assateague wrote:Oh, and according to government biologists at the National Zoo in DC, that's a drake Greenwing Teal.

QH's Paw wrote:

assateague wrote:It's only a grebe if somebody sees it.

FYI, there is no such thing as a piebill grebe. They are actually brown wing teal. The cops are in a conspiracy about it to generate revenue for Fish and Game and the DNR (where there are DNR). Well, at least that's what a guy at the boat ramp told me. Think it will hold up in court. He did mention he had been duck hunting 5 years and pretty much knew all about duck ID. Also, he said he was originally from Cali and a Spooney Pro guide.

That's what they are? Man I could have shot several limits over the weekend.

I wish I would have had a woodie with me when I took the picture. This one was about the size of a GWT and had crazy teeth. I don't know, guess I've never shot a hen woodie that looked so odd. Are the legs and bills different colors in juvies to mature? The rest of the bird looked like a wood duck, just crazy small and colors were way off to me. I usually don't shoot hens anyways, but I've never seen one look like this one did. Maybe I'm just crazy.

Yep, just crazy.


But they do vary in color.

It's a very young bird. Iv had a case of mistaken ID before, I shot a Rudy duck thinkin it was a teal

Eric Haynes wrote:I wish I would have had a woodie with me when I took the picture. This one was about the size of a GWT and had crazy teeth. I don't know, guess I've never shot a hen woodie that looked so odd. Are the legs and bills different colors in juvies to mature? The rest of the bird looked like a wood duck, just crazy small and colors were way off to me. I usually don't shoot hens anyways, but I've never seen one look like this one did. Maybe I'm just crazy.

I think hen wood ducks are the only ones with the yellow eye ring. Correct?

As fas as I know yes. It was just the size, color, and teeth that threw me off. In the pics I posted, looks exactly like a wood duck. For some reason in hand it had me questioning myself. Any hen ive shot has been very distinct and pretty uniform.