We can ID these ducks as male and female White-winged Scoters in various stages of development. As an example, the duck on the right in the first photo, we can ID as a second year White-winged Scoter starting to develop and molt into an adult, as follows:
- Head is the black of an adult, but the rest of the body is the brown of a second year White-winged Scoter.
- Bill is starting to develop the colors of an adult, i.e. if you look closely you will some orange color to the bill (bill color of the adult male varies from yellow to orange).
- Whitish preorbital and postorbital patches are faint; they are not present on the adult male. Also you can see the start of the bulbous dark knob at the base of the bill.
- Diffuse whitish patch around eye, but with part of the more distinct crescent of the adult male.
- White patch on wings.
The White-winged Scoter is a new species to our Photographic Life List. Our Life List on ebird is as follows:
Native or Naturalized: 1,061
Provisional. 8
Total. 1,069
Escapees. 3
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