The table above shows all of the counts for ducks for 15 years of the Dixon CBC.
The "Individuals" column at the right shows that there were 4,198 ducks counted in 15 years.
The next column shows the percentage of that total represented by each species. More than 95% of all ducks were accounted for by 3 species.
The Mallard is known to most people, so mastering 95% of the ducks requires study of just two species: Common Goldeneye and Common Merganser.
The Wood Duck, at 2.26%, is very distinctive in both male and female plumage.
The Green-winged Teal, at 1.17%, is distinctive in the male plumage.
| External Links in table below: | |
| (Remote sites open in a new window.) | |
| Cornell | Opens Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds site's species account in a new browser window. This site offers detailed information on every species including sound recordings. |
| USGS | Opens the USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter species account in a new browser window. Includes BBS and CBC maps, ID Tips and Taxonomy for each species. |
| Image Search | Shows the results of a Google image search for the species. |
| All Photographs by Robert Templeton unless otherwise noted. Copyright Information. | |
| English Name: Genus species: | Comments | Photos |
| Ducks in Winter | ||
| These three species account for 95.52% of all Ducks counted. | ||
| Common Goldeneye Bucephala clangula  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search | Females (upper) have brown heads. Male (below) has dark head with distinctive white patch between the bill and the eye. Both have yellow eye. |  Orilla Verde  Orilla Verde  Orilla Verde Enlarge  Rinconada |
| Mallard Anas platyrhynchos  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search | Note white horizontal mark at rear on both Female (above) and Male (below). Male plumage distinctive. |  Rinconada  Rinconada |
| Common Merganser Mergus merganser  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search | Distinctive bill shape and color. Male has dark head. Female reddish-brown head. |   |
| These two species give you another 3.43%. | ||
| Wood Duck Aix sponsa  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search | Male (top right): Coloration and white neck markings distinctive. Female (middle): White Eye-patch distinctive. Male (bottom front) in eclipse (non-breeding) plumage. |    |
| Green-winged Teal Anas crecca  Enlarge Map External Sites: Cornell USGS Image Search |  Rio Grande: Orilla Verde State Park  Photo: David Menke USFWS California | |
| The other 1.05%. | ||
| American Wigeon | Anas americana | Uncommon Winter Visitors |
| Hooded Merganser | Lophodytes cucullatus | Uncommon Winter Visitors |
| Bufflehead | Bucephala albeola | Rare Winter Visitors |
| Gadwall | Anas strepera | Rare Winter Visitors |
| Northern Pintail | Anas acuta | Rare Winter Visitors |
| Barrow's Goldeneye | Bucephala islandica | Rare Winter Visitors |
