Odd Ducks

Waterfowl in winter's morning mist on Lady Bird Lake.

Wintertime is the perfect time to look for ducks in central Texas.  Several species that breed far north of our state’s border return to Texas in the colder months to feed in our unfrozen freshwater lakes and rivers.  From the Old English ‘duce’, the word duck is a derivative of the verb meaning to duck or dive, or bend down low as if to get under something.  It best describes the way many ducks feed, by upending or diving under the water in search of a wide variety of food sources, such as small aquatic plants, grasses, fish, insects, amphibians, worms and mollusks.

Most ducks fall into either the dabbler or diver category.  Dabblers feed on the surface of the water, and sometimes on land, while divers disappear completely beaneath the surface and forage deep underwater.  In general, divers are heavier than dabblers, which gives them the ability to submerge more easily, but they often pay the price by having more difficulty when taking off to fly. 

While there are several species of ducks that are commonly found in central Texas winters, those that are more rarely seen usually occur singly or in small numbers.  These ‘odd ducks out’ include species such as the Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus), Redhead (Aythya americana), and Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera).

A pair of Hooded Mergansers (female behind, male in front).

The Hooded Merganser is an uncommon diving duck that is found on forested wetlands, rivers, and backwaters. The male has a black bill and head, with a large white head patch that is conspicuous and fan-shaped when the elegant crest or hood is raised.  His black and white breast and back gives way to chestnut sides.  Females are generally browner, including their bushy crest, with some white only in the wing feathers.  Hooded Mergansers are one of the few species of ducks that nest in tree cavities rather than on dry ground near water, and the females may start scouting for next year’s tree cavity at the end of each breeding season.

A handsome male Hooded Merganser with his crest on full display.

The Redhead is a locally common diving duck, with the male having a rounded chestnut head, black breast, and smoky gray back and sides.  The female is tawny brown with a mostly slate bill with a pale band bordering a black tip.  The male’s bill is similarly patterned, but is mainly pale blue instead of slate.  Redheads prefer ponds and lakes with open waters, and sometimes winter in large flocks called rafts.  They fly faster than most ducks with a rapid, shallow wingbeat, and are sociable ducks that are usually found feeding with other duck species in a mixed flock.

Redhead ducks are aptly named.

An overall cinnamon color distinguishes the male Cinnamon Teal from the rich brown of the female, but both have a teal blue forewing patch.  The male also has a white face crescent and a vertical white flank patch.  Cinnamon Teals are dabbling ducks that can be sometimes be found on quiet marshes, ponds, and lakes in winter, typically near the edges of vegetation.  Males molt soon after breeding, but regain their rich reddish plumage by midwinter. While this species is not endangered, its population is declining due to pollution, recreational hunting, and the loss of wetland habitat.

Cinnamon Teal prefer wetland habitats with emergent vegetation.

The next time you venture out to a lake, river, or pond this winter, check the water’s edge and scan the flocks to see if you can spot one of Austin’s odd ducks!   

 

Late Summer Skimmers

The quiet waters of a pond like this make great dragonfly habitat

Dragonflies are conspicuous visitors to various bodies of water, especially in the warmer months of the year.    These visitors include members of the largest family of dragonflies, the Libellulidae, otherwise known as the skimmers. Skimmers can be large and colorful, some with distinctive wing patterns, and are often seen perching on twigs and branches.  In late summer, especially after summer rains, some locally common but not often observed species can be found around newly refilled ponds, including the Gray-waisted Skimmer (Cannaphila insularis), Needham’s Skimmer (Libellula needhami), and Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta).  

Found in shady or marshy ponds, typically with tall reeds or cattails, the male Gray-waisted Skimmer has greenish-blue eyes, a white face in front and metallic blue on top, and a dark brown or black thorax divided by several pale stripes.  Its abdomen is pruinose gray on the front half and black on the back half, and its wings are clear with extreme dark only at the tips.  Females and juveniles have a yellow-orange abdomen marked with dark brown or black.  Gray-waisted Skimmers are often found perching in the shade at the tips of vegetation, with their abdomen held nearly parallel to the perch.

Gray-waisted Skimmer, male

The male Needham’s Skimmer has reddish-orange eyes and face, and a thorax than is orange in front and paler or more tannish on the sides. Its abdomen is reddish-orange with a dark dorsal stripe down the length, and its orange wings are somewhat darker along the leading edge.  Females and juveniles have brown eyes and faces, a yellowish-brown thorax, and their abdomens are yellow with a dark stripe running down the middle.  Needham’s Skimmers are typically found perching low on vegetation or overhanging the water’s edge.

Needham's Skimmer, male

Most often seen around marshy forest ponds, the male Slaty Skimmer has dark eyes and a metallic blue or violet face, and both the thorax and abdomen have an overall slaty-blue pruinescence.  The wings are typically clear, but can have a pale bluish stripe along the leading edge.  Females and juveniles have red-over-gray eyes and a pale face, a cream-colored thorax with broad dark shoulder stripes, and a black abdomen with yellowish-orange markings. Females also have more prominent dark wing tips and develop a pale pruinosity at maturity.  Males perch on top of tall grasses and sticks most often in sunlit areas.

Slaty Skimmer, male

Check out your local pond or body of water before the end of September, and you just might be rewarded with a sighting of these less common, late summer skimmers!

A Water Dance of Grebes

Eared Grebe in winter plumage, lacking the characteristic and showy golden ‘ear’ feathers.

Winter is one of the best times to observe waterfowl in central Texas. Several species spend the colder months on our quiet lakes, reservoirs, and ponds, searching for food in the open, unfrozen waters.  One interesting family that can be seen this time of year are the grebes, aquatic diving birds known for their strong swimming, but not often seen on land or in flight.

Grebes are not ducks, although both are considered to be waterfowl.  They lack webbed feet like ducks, and instead have lobed toes.  Their legs attach further back on their bodies than ducks, making it supremely awkward for them to walk on land. Combined with their lobed toes, however, these attributes make them powerful swimmers and divers for their size.  In our area, there are three species of grebe that can be observed, the Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), the Least Grebe (Tachybaptus dominicus), and the Eared Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis).

Pied-billed Grebe

The Pied-billed Grebe is a small but chunky waterbird 13.5 inches long that is brownish overall with a blocky head, short thick bill, and almost no tail.  During breeding season, its pale bill has a vertical black stripe, which gives it its name as ‘pied’ means having two or more different colors.  These grebes can trap water in their feathers, giving them control over their buoyancy, sinking deeply or exposing as much or as little of their body as they wish. The Pied-billed Grebe is present year-round, but are more abundant from mid-September to mid-May.  They are not gregarious, so they are often solitary or found in very small groups.

Least Grebe

Least Grebes arrive in central Texas in mid-September, but become scarce by early February.  As the smallest grebe in North America at 9.75 inches long, they have golden yellow eyes, a slim dark bill, are purplish gray in summer, and overall gray brown with a whitish throat and paler bill in winter.  Rather uncommon or local, they can sometimes hide by submerging their entire body under water with only their bill visible.  The Least Grebe is light and has large wings relative to its size, so it can take flight from the water more easily than most other grebe species.

Unlike the previous two grebes, the Eared Grebe is the most abundant grebe species in the world, but it is largely a winter resident in Texas, typically appearing by October and disappearing by May.  It is also a small waterbird at 12.5 inches in length with a bright red eye, very thin bill, and overall dusky brown with white.  In their summer range further north and west, they are black with chestnut sides, and sport golden ‘ears’ or wispy feathers that fan out noticeably from their cheeks behind their eyes. Eared Grebes migrate only at night, and their southward migration in the fall is the latest of any bird species in North America.

The collective noun for a group of grebes is a ‘water dance’, which refers to the fact that they have some of the most elaborate courtship displays of all birds.  Often described as ballet-like, these displays can include bowing, feather fluffing, and rising up nearly out of the water, extending their necks and appearing to run across the water’s surface.  Displays vary and can occur between mated pairs or two competing males, suggesting that they have multiple functions.

Get out this winter and scan the open waters for these beautiful little birds.  While they are not particularly common, nor do we normally see them in the height of their breeding plumage, they are still standouts among the typical rafts of ducks that overwinter in our area. 

Mud Hens

American Coot, Fulica americana

Spend any amount of time observing wildlife around freshwater wetlands, swamps, marshes, suburban lakes, and sewage ponds, and you’ll no doubt see a Mud Hen or American Coot (Fulica americana).  Commonly mistaken to be ducks, coots belong to a distinct scientific order and differ significantly from other species of marsh birds.

An overall blackish, plump, chicken-like bird with a rounded head, red eyes, a sloping whitish bill with a dark band near the tip, and a small reddish brown forehead shield, coots swim like ducks but do not have webbed feet like ducks.  Their yellow-green legs end in long toes with broad lobes of skin on either side that help them kick through the water.  Each time the bird lifts its’ feet, the lobes fold back to facilitate walking on dry land.  Their tiny tails and short wings make them awkward and clumsy fliers, and they often require many wing beats and long running takeoffs to get airborne. Coots mainly eat aquatic plants and can dive in search of food, but they can also forage and scavenge on land for terrestrial plants, arthropods, fish, insects, and mollusks.  

Note the lobed feet on this perching American Coot

Mating season occurs in May and June, with coots requiring heavy stands of aquatic vegetation along a shoreline with some standing water within those stands.  It is here that they make their nests, which consist of multiple structures used as display platforms, egg nests, and brood nests. Egg nest material is woven into a shallow basket and lined with finer grasses to hold the eggs. The entire nest is anchored to upright plant stalks and is generally a floating structure.  Females deposit eggs between sunset and midnight, one per day, until the average clutch of 9 eggs is complete. Both males and females share the 21-day incubation responsibility.  

Being persistent re-nesters, coots will replace lost clutches within 2 days during the deposition period.  Additionally, once hatching begins and a certain number of chicks are present, coots will abandon the remaining eggs.  Unlike the drab color of the adults, coot chicks are quite colorful, having conspicuous, orange-tipped, ornamental plumes covering the front half of their bodies, often referred to as ‘chick ornaments.’   While these plumes get bleached out after about 6 days, experiments have shown that chicks with more of this ornamentation are given preferential treatment by their parents. The oldest known coot lived to be more than 22 years old.

In winter, coots can be founds in large groups or ‘rafts’ of mixed waterfowl and in groups numbering thousands of individuals.  They can consume very large amounts of aquatic vegetation, but because they live in wetlands, they can accumulate toxins from pollution sources including agricultural runoff, industrial waste, and nuclear facilities.  As such, scientists monitor coots as a way of measuring the effect these toxins have on the health of the environment at large.