Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The black-headed duck is the most basal living member of its subfamily, and it lacks the stiff tail and swollen bill of its relatives. Overall much resembling a fairly typical diving duck, [5] its plumage and other peculiarities indicate it may not be a very close relative of the other stiff-tailed ducks, but rather the product of convergent evolution from the ancestors of the stiff-tailed ducks.
It has a light blue bill with a small black nail on the tip, yellow eyes, and is 20% heavier and 10% longer than the closely related lesser scaup. [16] The male has a dark head with a green to purple sheen, a black breast, a light back, a black tail, and a white underside. The drake or male is larger and has a more rounded head than the female.
Except for hybrids between the two scaup species, the most reliable mark is the black bill-tip of hybrids, whereas in the scaups only the very point ("nail") of the bill is black. This is even recognizable at considerable range, as the scaups' bills appear uniformly grey from a distance, whereas those of hybrids look two-colored.
The black-headed duck of Heteronetta is indisputably quite basal, looking more like a typical duck-like Anatidae with a short tail and normal bill. The masked duck of Nomonyx has a more intermediate position; it probably diverged from the lineage leading to the main radiation some time after Heteronetta.
Loons are aquatic birds the size of a large duck, to which they are unrelated. Their plumage is largely gray or black and they have spear-shaped bills. Loons swim well and fly adequately but, because their legs are placed towards the rear of the body, are clumsy on land. Red-throated loon, Gavia stellata; Common loon, Gavia immer
The American black duck (Anas rubripes) is a large dabbling duck in the family Anatidae.It was described by William Brewster in 1902. It is the heaviest species in the genus Anas, weighing 720–1,640 g (1.59–3.62 lb) on average and measuring 54–59 cm (21–23 in) in length with an 88–95 cm (35–37 in) wingspan.
The blue-billed duck (Oxyura australis) is a small Australian stiff-tailed duck, with both the male and female growing to a length of 40 cm (16 in). [ 2 ] [ 3 ] The male has a slate-blue bill which changes to bright-blue during the breeding season, hence the duck's common name.
The gnatcatchers are mainly soft bluish gray in color and have the typical insectivore's long sharp bill. Many species have distinctive black head patterns (especially males) and long, regularly cocked, black-and-white tails. One species has been recorded in Maine. Blue-gray gnatcatcher, Polioptila caerulea