Gadwall, Female

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I came around a bend in the trail and saw what I thought was a strange looking duck. It looked to me like a female mallard but seemed to be much lighter in color. It appeared to be white and brown rather than tan and brown. It had an orange bill which seemed to me to be like a female mallard's so I thought it might just be a funny looking mallard. However I asked about this on birdforum.org and found out this is a female gadwall.

You can read the discussion at the link yourself, but a female mallard would have a dark eye stripe, a dark crown, and the black part of the bill would reach the edges of the bill not just occur along the center.

For comparison, see this photograph of mallards on my other blog.

Gadwall, Female, May 1, 2010
Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Plum Island, Newburyport, MA
Canon PowerShot SX20 IS

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