Fancy Ducks

By Keith Michael

On the very high heels of last month’s perennial question, “Do you really go out birding in the winter?” one of the supreme joys of my bird watching year is Weird Duck Season. Challenging the cornucopia of May Warbler Migration, the parade of fancy-dressed waterbirds in the cold months is well worth bundling up for.

First of all, the primary strategy for seeing these decorative canards is: go where the water is. Since New York City has an extraordinary 520 miles of coastline—not including its many interior lakes, ponds, and streams—one is never very far from a waterfront view. Next, it’s essential to go out. Many waterfowl from the far north come south only as far as they need to find an aquatic banquet or where the water is unfrozen. They’ve made the effort; you need to as well. Finally, your reward will be that winter is when most ducks have molted into their snazzy breeding plumage so that each feather will be fresh and preened to look its finest for your, and their, viewing pleasure.

If you’re hesitant to travel very far just to see a pretty duck, maybe start at a freshwater lake or pond in any borough near you. The standard of excess for any duck is our year-round Wood Duck. Often seen skulking around secluded edges, catching this dapper fellow and his stylish mate will brighten up any day. It’s difficult to fathom how the interplay of all of their colors is really needed only as camouflage in the shadows. I think that they also pride themselves in being the prettiest duck on the block.

Another, usually freshwater, fashionably over-the-top denizen is the Hooded Merganser. Unmatched is their hatchet-shaped coif: hers in chestnut suede and his in formal-dress black and white. If you chance to snag orchestra seats for his courting performances, his snappy head throws smacking his back may tempt you to gift him with a certificate to a chiropractor.

One of my favorite places to go on a freezing, blustery day is to the beach! I know that this may just seem wrong, but it’s definitely where the “cool” winter ducks hang out. Competing for my Favorite Bathtub Toy Ducks are Buffleheads and Ruddy Ducks. Both are diminutive. Both bob high on the water. Both have a swath of white behind their eyes. But catch the drake Bufflehead on a sunny day and he’ll wow you with a rainbow of colors. The Ruddy Duck is simply cute with his plastic blue bill.

Moving on to the swashbuckling winter ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers look like they may belong to a motorcycle gang. Few birds sport this punky ‘do. I really don’t know what it might be “good for” but it seems to have kept this duck a hipster for eons. Long-tailed Ducks may be the least cryptically-named duck because they are a duck with a long tail—usually obvious as they dive through oncoming breakers. They could also be called Piebald Ducks for their intricate black and white patterning which they magically reverse halfway through the year.

Three more winter seabirds to whom I give top billing (pun intended): the Common and King Eider, and the Surf Scoter. All three wield massive bills which are the perfect tools for dispatching crustaceans and mollusks from the frigid depths. Common Eiders’ long, sweeping profiles give them a regal countenance, whereas the King Eider, a rarer, close relative, looks like it’s ready for a royal costume ball. On the other hand, the Surf Scoter’s parti-colored honker seems more suitable for a court jester.

Finally, easily winning the Super Fancy Duck Award, possibly even nudging the flamboyant Wood Duck to the sidelines, is the exuberant Harlequin Duck. Frankly, you’re going to have to work a little harder to see this one because they like to hang out at only the roughest, wave-battered rocks of jetties and coastlines. The nearest nearly surefire location to see them is at the Barnegat Lighthouse jetty in New Jersey. The Harlequin Duck is aptly named for its intricate red, blue, black, and white patterning: a true showman of the avian circus.

This is only a smattering of the frosty-weather jewels to be seen in our waters. Don’t get me started talking about wintertide geese, swans, coots, loons, grebes, or, um, alcids—what are those? Don’t take my word for it. Get out and see them for yourself.