Field Guide to Hunting Waterfowl

Waterfowl hunting has always been a favorite sport of most American hunters. A major milestone in waterfowl hunting was reached in 1900 when, by the passage of the Federal Lacey Act, which controlled interstate shipment of game, market hunting about reached the end of its rope.

Later, in 1918, a treaty known as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was signed by Britain and the United States, providing basic bag limits and limitations on the length of shooting seasons. These two acts, more than any other legislation, changed the complexion of waterfowl hunting.

Other important legislation was the Duck Stamp Law in 1934 and the Pittman-Robertson program in 1937. The Duck Stamp Law made it mandatory that every duck hunter over sixteen years of age purchase a migratory waterfowl hunting stamp. The P-R program, as it is popularly called, provided for an excise tax of eleven per cent on sporting ar ns and ammunition. The funds from both are used to acquire and restore water­fowl habitat.

Bold legislation was necessary, and continues to be needed, not only to make waterfowl hunting a sport instead of a commercial proposition; but to insure game bags to future generations of hunters.

North American waterfowl nest and reproduce in the northern portions of the continent, and winter in the southern part. There is some overlapping of the nesting and wintering areas, resulting in "resident" waterfowl.

The migrations of these birds assume four broad patterns, referred to and regulated as the Atlantic, Mississippi, Central, and Pacific Flyways. The recovery of banded birds indicates that waterfowl heading northward to the nesting grounds in spring may be harvested that fall in another flyway. Again, they may take a different route back. But the management of waterfowl is based upon the habitual use of these four routes.

Waterfowl may be divided into four categories: ducks, brant, geese, and shore birds.

DUCKS

Compared with other waterfowl species, ducks are found in a wide variety of habitat. Individual species will change this broad pattern ac­cording to migration habits, season, food preference, and whether they are of the diving-duck group or surface feeders.

Methods of hunting ducks include stalking and jump-shooting, hunting with decoys, boats, and dogs, using blinds, or any possible combination of these methods. All these techniques will be covered in subsequent chapters.

For all forms of duck shooting, the 12-gauge, full-choke, repeating shotgun, either pump or autoloading, has long been the most popular duck gun. For close-in shooting over decoys, the 20 gauge is handy and effective in the hands of a good shotgun man. With the development of the 20 gauge, there has been a great spurt of interest in the trim twenty, and the magnum version is bound to increase in popularity for duck hunting.

Similarly, many duck hunters facing increasingly wary and scarce birds have gone to the 12-gauge, 3-inch Magnum, or duck gun, in full choke, especially for pass-shooting. For those who like the two-choke virtues of the double, but also like a single sighting plane, the over-under has provided the answer and is now popular as a duck gun. The best shot sizes for all-round duck shooting are No. 4, 5, and 6.

Green-Winged Teal, also called green-wing and mud teal, are distributed from the Arctic to central Mexico. Their habitat includes ponds, lakes, marshes, and streams, and, in cold weather, salt water. Sometimes they are found a distance from the water.

Coloring of the male and the female differs: the male's breast is tan with brown spots, with a white vertical crescent behind, gray sides, and buffy undertail coverts. The female is brownish gray on top and pale speckled gray below.

The voice of the male is a piping whistle; that of the female a high-pitched quack.

Green-wing are swift in flight and dart in a zig-zag fashion, wheeling like pigeons in compact flocks. They sometimes walk around on the ground, feeding in mud. Their food consists of crustaceans, aquatic plants, shellfish, seeds, etc.

Blue-Winged Teal, also called blue-wing and summer teal, are slightly larger than green-winged teal. Distribution in nesting season is southern Canada and northern United States, and wintering grounds include Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Their habitat is fresh water, marshes, ponds; very seldom are they found in salt water.

The male is grayish on top, tan with darker tan below, a white patch on the end of the flank, with black tail and undertail coverts. The female is brownish-gray on top and pale gray mixed with darker gray below.

The voice of the male is a peep-like whistle; the female has the same shrill quack as the green-winged teal. Their flight is erratic.

Food of the blue-wing consists of crustaceans, aquatic plants, snails, and seeds.

Bufflehead, also called butter-ball; dipper duck; spirit duck; dipper; dapper; marionette; shot bag; Scotchman. Their nesting range is northwestern Canada and southern Alaska, and wintering range includes the southern half of the United States. Their habitat includes lakes, bays, oceans, and rivers.

The male has black and white glossy feathers, with a large head with black, purplish-toned feathers, and a triangular white patch from below the eye around back of the head. There is a white patch on its wing, which can be seen in flight. The female is dusky brown in color, with a large head and a white patch in back of the eye. Its bill is bluish gray and comparatively short. Bufflehead range in size from 12 to 15 inches. They nest in hollow trees, laying eggs that are a cream color.

The voice of bufflehead is seldom heard; the female quacks and the male whistles. On shore this duck usually gathers in flocks. On the water they float lightly when not disturbed and can take off into the air from under the surface of the water.

Food consists of fish, aquatic insects, and shellfish.

Blue-Winged Teal

Golden-Eye, also called whistler; brass eye; great-head; carrot; quandy (female); and whistle-wing (because of the whistling sound their wings make in flight). Central Canada is their nesting area, with their wintering grounds in central United States. Their habitat include bays, oceans, rivers, and lakes.

The golden-eye is 18 inches long and has a stocky body and a short neck, with a long thin bill. The male's upper parts are black, the rest of the body is white, and the head has a greenish gloss on top. The bill is black. The female has a brown head, yellow eyes, gray back and sides. The belly, collar, breast, and split wing are patched with white; the outer part of the bill is yellow.

Golden-eye make a running take-off, rise together in flocks, and stay together in flight. They dive frequently when feeding. The voice of the male is penetrating and shrill; the female's is a deep quack. Food consists of aquatic insects, plants, crustaceans, etc.

Ruddy Duck, known by nearly a hundred other names, nests in southern-central Canada and central-northern United States, winters in Mexico and along the full length of both the Pacific and the Atlantic Coasts. Their habitat is lakes, streams, rivers, ponds, and sheltered bays.

Measuring 15 inches in length, with a broad, upturned, blue bill and a thick neck, the male has a chestnut-brown body, black-crowned head with white cheeks, and a tail shaped like a fan. The female is similar to the male in the winter but has a dark stripe along the cheek.

The ruddy duck's eggs are dull white to buffy color, and from five to fifteen are laid. Their voice is silent except for a low cluck when courting. They swim with their tail often cocked, and can sink slowly underwater or dive quickly; on, land they require a long run for take off into the air. Food consists of insects, aquatic animals, and vegetation.

Scaup are divided between greater scaup and lesser scaup. The lesser scaup's other names are little blackhead; little blue-bill; raft duck·; creek broad-bill; river blue-bill; cove blue-bill; blue-bill coot.

The lesser scaup has a far greater distribution than the greater scaup, with nesting grounds in northwestern Canada, and wintering grounds in southern United States, Mexico, and along each coast. Their habitat is in fresh water, and very seldom salt water.

The male has a purplish-black head, neck, chest and rear ends. The back and scapulars are white mixed with black, giving a grayish effect. The eggs range from a greenish gray to olive coloring.

Both male and female are usually silent during the day, but the male utters a loud scaup when startled. They fly swiftly and erratically, often twisting and turning, and stay in large compact flocks. They are good divers and swimmers.

Food consists of aquatic vegetation, snails, and insects, and small aquatic animals.

The greater scaup's other names are blue-bill widgeon; broad-bill; raft duck; big blackhead; troop fowl; greenhead. Their habitat is oceans, bays, lakes, rivers and ponds.

Their size is 18 inches, and an important identifying characteristic is a large wing with a white strip that extends almost down to the end. The male's head and neck are similar to that of the lesser scaup except that the head has a greenish iridescence. Body is same as that of the lesser but sides are white. The bill is blue. The female is dark brown with a clearly defined white area across face at base of bill.

The eggs and voice are the same as the lesser.
They collect on large rafts and generally stay on large bodies of fresh water and salt water rather than small bodies of water as the lesser does. Food consists of mollusks, crustaceans, and seeds.

Ring-Necked Duck, also called ring-necked scaup; bastard broad-bill; ring-necked blackhead; blackie; ring-billed blackhead; ring-bill. They have a limited nesting ground in central Canada and Maine. Their habitat is wooded lakes, streams, and ponds in the North; salt-water bays in the South.

The drake's chest, back and rump are black, its breast is white, merging into brownish black on the belly. The sides are gray. The head and neck are black with purple iridescence, and the neck has a narrow chestnut collar, which gives this duck its name. The bill is grayish blue with a black tip separated by a white band. The female is brown with a white eye-ring, cheeks and belly. The eggs are dark olive-buff. Their voice, which is seldom heard, is similar to the lesser scaup, and they travel in small flocks and land without circling.

Food consists of seeds and aquatic vegetation.

European Widgeon, also called redheaded widgeon and widgeon, are often found along the Atlantic, but do not have any true distribution pattern. Their habitat is lakes, streams, rivers, marshes, and bays. They prefer fresh water but are sometimes seen on salt water.

This duck measures 19 inches, the male has gray on top and flanks, a pinkish breast, whitish rump, rear flanks, belly and wing coverts. The head is cinnamon-red with cream-colored forehead and crown. Primaries and tail coverts are black, and the speculum is green, shading to black toward the rear. The female's body is dusky brown edged with gray on the back, scapulars, and rump; buffy brown on the chest and sides; white on breast and belly; and the head is cinnamon-buff, darker around the eye and back of head.

The male's voice is a shrill whistling sound; the female quacks.

Widgeons fly in close, irregular flocks and circle in when landing. They sit high on the water. Their food consists of aquatic plants, seeds, and widgeon grass.

Wood Duck, also called summer duck; wood widgeon; acorn duck; and tree duck, nests in eastern United States from Canada to Florida, and in the Northwest. Their habitat is fresh-water marshes, swamps, and creeks. They nest in hollows in trees.

The size of this bird is 18 inches. The drake's head is maroon, purple, green and white, with feathers at the back of the head draping like a hood. The body is bronze-green on the back and rump, purplish-chestnut on chest with a black and white vertical bar in front of folded wing, pale buffy sides and large patch of purplish chestnut on each flank. The female is

white on the throat and underparts, and ashy gray on neck. The head is brownish with greenish gloss on top and the eye is circled by a white ring. The back, rump, and scapulars are brown, glossed with bronze and greenish-purple. Chest and sides are olive-brown and the breast and belly are white. The eggs are dull white.

The male normally emits a long series of whistles and a sharp hoo-eek when startled. The female emits a crr-ek cr-r-ek.

They sit high on the water and hold the head high above the level of the body in flight, which is swift and direct. They eat aquatic plants, seeds, and nuts.

Gadwall, also called gadwell; gray duck; speckle-belly; creek duck. Nesting grounds includes northwestern United States and southwestern Canada; they winter in southern United States and the northern half of Mexico. Habitat is lakes, ponds, streams, and fresh and brackish marshes.
Their size is 20 inches; the male's head and neck are light brown, its shoulders are red-brown, and its undertail and rump coverts an: black. Distinguishing features are a chestnut patch on middle wing coverts and white on the lining and axillars. The female is brown on top with whitish breast and belly. Chestnut and white on wings are similar to the male. The eggs are creamy color.

The voice of the male is a whistle and trill, and the female ha? a loud quack. Their flight is direct and swift, in small compact flocks. Their wingbeat is rapid and in flight the wings appear long and pointed. When alarmed they spring immediately into the air. They eat grass, grain, and aquatic plants.

Shoveler, also called spoonbill; broadbill. They nest in Central Alaska, a strip of Canada including Yukon, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, and northwestern United States. They winter in Mexico and southern United States. Their habitat is shallow water and fresh or brackish marshes. This bird is identified by its pronounced shovel-like bill. Its size is 19 inches. The drake has a green head, brown belly and white breast and wings with a dark stripe extending the entire length. Tail coverts and primaries are black. This bird shows more white on water than any other surface-feeding duck. In flight an alternating dark and light pattern from head to tail can be seen. Hens are brown above and paler brown below. The eggs are pale olive-green to gray-green in color.

Shoveler

The voice of the male is a low woe-woe and the female a quiet quack. Their flight is rather slow, somewhat hesitating except when frightened. They fly and also swim with their bill pointed down. They sit low on the water, and use their shovel-type bill for surface feeding. Their food consists of snails, aquatic insects, seeds, crustaceans, aquatic plants.

Pintail

Pintail, also called spring-tail; pheasant duck; gray duck; picket-tail; sea widgeon. Their nesting range includes all of Alaska, western Canada, and northwestern United States. Wintering grounds include Mexico and Central America, and a fringe area around all the coastal areas of the United States. Their habitat is lakes, ponds, rivers, marshes, and salt-water bays in winter.

The size of this bird is 22 to 27 inches. It can be identified by its pointed "stem" tail and its long slender neck with a distinctive line on the side. The drake has a white breast and belly, brown head, gray back and sides, and black, white-edged feathers. The female is light brown, darker brown on top, and white on the belly.

The male's voice is a loud qwa, qwa in flight. The female utters a subdued quack. They fly fast and gracefully and sit high on the water. When startled they spring neatly from the water. Their food consists of shellfish, grain, and seeds.

Black Duck, also called black mallard, English duck, inhabits the eastern part of the continent, with nesting grounds in eastern Canada and the United States and wintering grounds in southeastern United States. Any water is suitable habitat for this duck.

Both males and females have brown heads and black bodies, white underwings, dusky legs, and a yellow or greenish bill. Their voice is a low, reedy kwek, kwek, kwek; they fly high in the air with their neck slightly lowered. Like mallards, they take off from the water vertically.

Black ducks feed on aquatic plants, grass, grain, seeds, and mollusks.

Mallard, also called greenhead, is the most popular of all ducks and is found the world over. They are the most widely distributed on our continent of all the ducks; nesting grounds include the western portions of Alaska and Canada and the northern half of the United States. Wintering grounds include southern United States and northern Mexico.

Mallard

One of the largest wild ducks, drakes weigh over 3 pounds and are 23 inches in size. The male has a green head, white collar, brown breast, gray body, and black rump, with a tight curl of feathers on top of the tail. The female is brown and only has a little white in its tail.

Their voice is similar to the black duck. They feed on seeds, grain, grass, and aquatic vegetation.

Redhead, known as fiddler duck, gray-back, and American pochard, also has an extended distribution. Nesting grounds include all of Alaska, western Canada, and northwestern United States. Like several other species, the redhead winters in Mexico and around the coastal fringes of the United States. Hens are brown with gray wings. The drakes have gray bodies with black breast and rump. The bill is blue in color.

Canvasback. Two identifying features of the canvasback, sheldrake, or "can" are the drake's white body with both ends black; and the sloping, long bill which meets the head with little "jump" in contour. Female

Canvasback

canvasbacks are gray in color. The drakes have red heads, in addition to the black and white bodies which resemble "belted" hogs. Canvasbacks winter in the southern half of the United States, and have nesting grounds in western Canada and Alaska.

In addition to these species are the scoters, including the surf scoter; the white-winged scoter; and the American scoter, commonly called a "coot."

Mergansers include the American merganser; the hooded merganser; and the red-breasted merganser. All three species are commonly called shel­drakes, and the red-breasted merganser is also commonly known as a fish duck.

BRANT

Brant are of two species, the American brant and the black brant. These birds are midway in size between ducks and geese, with the American brant resembling a goose, and the black brant considerably darker. Both

Brant

species nest in the Arctic and migrate to the United States' coastal areas in winter. The American brant lives on the eastern side of the continent, the black brant stays on the western half. These big birds like the protection afforded by off-shore islands. One of their preferred foods is eel-grass, and the incidence of this gives a clue to where the greatest concentrations of birds are apt to be.

Both species of brant are hunted by the use of duck boats, decoys, and blinds. The best guns are those suitable for large ducks and geese, and if one were to be picked above all others it would be a standard 12-gauge, pump-action, full-choke repeater.

GEESE

The largest and most important wild goose is the Canada goose, known largely as the Canadian honker. This goose will run to a yard in body-length, with a wingspan of twice that. Size varies as between the males and females, but will average around 8 to 10 pounds. From records of banded, sanctuary birds, a Canadian honker may live to an age comparable to that of man.

The Canada goose has a striking appearance. Both sexes are light gray on the breast, tapering to a white along the underbelly and to the tail. The back and wing coverings are a darker gray. The bird has an unusually long neck, which changes coloration at the body line to become a pure black. This extends all over the head with the exception of a large vertical white patch extending from near the crown, all the way down the face. This head-and-neck shows up plainly for long distances, either in stubble or on water—and especially so if the bird is alerted, and stands with head upright.

Honkers fly habitually in V wedges, and can attain a speed up to 50 or 60 miles an hour. The "cry of the wild goose" sounds something like Eaur-awk, eaur-awk . . . and once heard, simply isn't forgotten. It can be heard for nearly a mile on a still day.

The Canada goose is widely distributed, with an annual range from Alaska to Mexico. Nesting grounds are the marshes of almost all Canada, and the honker winters as far south as Mexico. Like elk, honkers can predict weather. Consistent temperatures of 28 degrees and lower will start them on their southward migrations; and their spring migrations

Canada Goose

northward indicate general warming trends. Of all waterfowl, the Canada goose is one of the smartest and hardest to approach within shotgun range.

Besides stalking and jump-shooting, the methods used for hunting geese of all species include the use of blinds of all sorts, boats either from which to hunt or to tend off-shore blinds, and the use of many types of goose decoys.

Geese are especially hard to stalk and catch in the smaller waters such as ponds and potholes. When they alight they habitually do so m some position where they may see in all directions for well beyond shotgun ranges. These include long sandbars in lakes, open fields of stubble, and in the middle of large rivers or near tiny islands. These strategic positions are shortened in any direction only when the built-in suspicions of the species are entirely allayed.

One place geese may occasionally be stalked is from the curving bank of a sizeable river, and after the birds haven't been molested for some time. The method is to spot them as they alight, allow an hour to pass, then stalk through the foliage off each bank bend until the birds are located. This calls for a full utilization of all changes in the ground's elevation, and the concealing properties of all available foliage. Many an ardent waterfowler never considers the effort too much if he has to crawl on his belly that last quarter-mile.

The 12-gauge, 3-inch Magnum duck gun is a fine tool for shooting geese, and should be in full-choke boring. The standard 12 gauge has also long been a fine weapon, and is still adequate if geese can be decoyed in reasonably close.

On either side of the 12-gauge lovers are the 20-gauge specialists who claim that the 20-gauge Magnum will do anything the 12 gauge will on decoyed geese; and this group usually are exponents of No. 6 and 7½ shot, trying for neck shots only. Many a gunner will claim that the smaller shot sizes at close to medium ranges will cut through goose feathers where the bigger shot will ball up and slow down.

Oppositely, there are many veteran hunters who swear by the bigger 10 bores for all goose shooting. They like the better pattern this gauge will impart to larger shot, at the long ranges geese often have to be taken. For pass-shooting, the 10 gauge will do more than the 12 gauge.

From the standpoint of actual use, BB shot, and No. 2 and 4 are the most popular for shooting geese. On any gauge large enough for geese, the addition of a soft-rubber recoil pad, to dampen the punishment of the necessary big-bump loads, is a sensible investment.

SHORE BIRDS

The shore birds may be grouped broadly into the snipes, gallinules, rails, and coots. These birds, as the name suggests, live at the junction of shallow water and shorelines. They belong to the Rallidae family, having some of its numerous species distributed widely in most parts of the world. Most species are smaller than the duck family and have sharp, pointed bills.

The snipes have long curving bills, necessary to the feeding on beaches, and in matted vegetation. Two of the more common varieties are the curlew snipe and the Wilson snipe.

The gallinules are the largest shore birds. These birds are relatively short-billed and look more like coot than do the snipes and rails. The Florida gallinule and the purple gallinule are two of the most prominent.

One of the most important shore birds, so far as the hunter is concerned, is the Carolina rail, or sora. Another, more widely distributed, is the Virginia rail. Both birds nest in southern Canada and migrate to southern parts of the United States for wintering.

The American coot is one of the most widely distributed of the shore birds, being found in Alaska, Canada, the United States, and Mexico. They are far less migratory than other waterfowl. The coot, or mud hen as it is popularly known, is a squat, slate-colored bird having a white bill. Coots swim and dive well, and are often seen with species of ducks. They are among the most vicious of birds, and will, while being trapped and sanded, peck painfully the hands of the handler. When leaving the water to fly, coots take off in a long paddling run along the surface, and are easily hit with a shotgun charge. There is a wide divergence of opinion about their edibility. This, however, as with other species, depends largely upon their diet.

The woodcock commonly called the timberdoodle, is sometimes consid­ered an upland bird, but is more of the snipe family. This odd-appearing bird is bug-eyed, has only an excuse of a tail, but has a somewhat paunchy belly and extremely long bill. The bird is mottled black, brown, and rust, and is generally found along the Atlantic Coast. Due to its fine eating qualities, the woodcock was heavily hunted in early days by market hunters.

Generally the shore birds are hunted by stalking them along shorelines. Sometimes groups of hunters, walking a shoreline into the wind, v. ill push the birds towards a concealed hunter posted in a strategic position. A species like rail can be hunted by two men in a shallow-draft boat among the marsh grasses, one poling, the other shooting.

The 20-gauge shotgun of any preferred action, having improved-cylinder choke, and using No. 7½, 8 or 9 shot is a popular combination for most shore-bird shooting.

The future of waterfowl hunting appears to be that of ever-increasing re­strictions, even smaller bag limits (periodically, at least), and the occasional removal of a dwindling species from the legal bag. Waterfowl, like other living game, is not a product which can be manufactured, stored, and spread evenly so as to harvest over the years. It is, rather, an annual crop. As such, it requires brood stock, suitable conditions for reproduction, food, and resting areas along the major flyways.

Woodcock

The biggest cause for the dwindling supply of waterfowl has been the draining of the marsh lands, potholes, and similar wet-lands in the overall interests of an agrarian economy. The largest single reason waterfowl do not stop in the fall, on their southward migration, is that there are no suitable places to stop over and rest. In the absence of such resting places and feeding grounds, en route from Canada and Alaska to Mexico, many species can make the long annual journey nonstop. To the degree they do this, we will have less shooting.

Such organizations as Ducks Unlimited, and such money-providing pro­grams as the Duck Stamp Law and excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition, have started to show the way towards a restoration of "duck factories" and resting areas. The rest is up to the citizenry.

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