Gadwall Anas strepera
Identification Tips:
- Length: 14.5 inches Wingspan: 35 inches
- Large dabbling duck with steep forehead
- White speculum
- Juvenile similar to adult female
Adult male alternate:
- Alternate plumage worn from fall through early summer
- Black bill
- Brown head
- Gray body
- Gray and brown breast, back and upperwing coverts
- Black rump, uppertail coverts and undertail coverts
- White belly
Adult male basic:
Adult female:
- Gray bill with orange edges
- Mottled gray, brown and white body plumage
- Distinct white belly patch
Similar species:
Adult male in alternate plumage is unmistakable. All plumages
easily identified in flight and occasionally at rest by white speculum. Females
and immature at rest can be identified by their steeper head profile than
similarly-plumaged Mallards, by the gray bill with
orange edges, and by the distinct white belly patch.
Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds
of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.
Above information used courtesy of
United States Geological Survey.
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