Duck I.D question...Pintail

[Howard]

Just after shooting time this morning I had a pair of ducks come. Couldn't tell in the low light what they were (other than puddle ducks) so I only took one.

When I picked it up It was palin to see it was a pintail but I'm not sure if it is a hen or an imature drake. The head is kinda brown but the tail looks like a hen. In fact the tail is how I identifed it as a pintail.

Does the hen have a black center freather on the tail?

The speculm feathers are actually gray with the white edge on the rear side. Just a tinge of green on the inner feather on one side.

Never shot a lot of them and haven't shot one at all in about 15 years.

Thanks

 

[Andy Grant]

The drakes around here have been clearly plumed for at least a month. I haven't seen enough hens, but they do have a longer tail too. My guess would be if it was a drake you would know.

 

[TimJ]

http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/duckplum/pintail.htm

Sounds like a young hen. The wing is nearly always the best way to tell. The link above has some good pictures and info.

btw I would expect all drake pintails to be fully colored by now.

Tim

 

[Justin K]

i would guess hen... an imature drake will have a nicely defined bill where the blue meets the black... on hens the black sorta fades into the blue. i would also expect any drakes to be colored up by now.

 

[ed gagne]

i would check the flanks for any vermeculated feathers the gray ones with the zig zag black bars
look deep into the body to see if any are starting to grow if not then its a hen.

eddie