There’s been controversy about the common name of this duck for over a century.
1/2000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
I’ve been photographing this male Ring-necked Duck at a local pond for over a week. I have better images of it than this one but I chose to post it because it’s one of the few shots of the species I have where the dark chestnut colored ring around the base of the neck can be seen. The ring, found only in males, is inconspicuous and very difficult to spot (in fact, many birders have never noticed this obscure marking). In order for it to be clearly seen the duck must be a male, one must be close to the bird on a sunny day and it needs to have its head raised and neck extended in an alert position.
Many birders and hunters believe this duck to be poorly named and think the species should have been called the “Ring-billed Duck” instead (after the two white rings around its gray bill). The neck ring is clearly not a good field mark but for some reason it jumped out at the nineteenth century biologists/naturalists who named and described the species using dead specimens. Even the species name “collaris” refers to the obscure neck ring.
1/5000, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, canvas added for composition, not baited, set up or called in
This pose illustrates that even in ideal conditions (up close in bright light with the neck extended) the neck ring can be almost impossible to spot.
Many hunters don’t even know the common name of these ducks and simply call them “ring-bills”. I can see why.
Ron
Super shots Ron, but I agree it is poorly named. Why don’t they just change it like they do with others?
Charlotte
Wonderful pictures Ron. The Ring Necks arrive in the Fall here. I too wondered why they were given that name. They are a beautiful bird. Fun to watch.
Thank you, Jean.
I think that rather a lot of birds are poorly named. Which doesn’t detract from their beauty at all.
EC, my friend Jay Banta (in the thread on my FB post of this link) listed the White-fronted Goose and Orange-crowned Warbler as further examples.
I give photo tours at a resort and we have several of these ducks there and I’ve always have wanted to call them ring bills!
“I’ve always have wanted to call them ring bills!”
That’s understandable, for obvious reasons, Linda.
I have to agree with the comment(s) relative to the way we collected birds in the 1800’s and early 1900’s compared to now! We need to remember that birds were food and sport items for a along time and the only way that was accomplished was through shooting. Consequently when biologists or naturalists or ornithologists needed a specimen to study or needed to collect many specimens for a museum collection they shot it. I am sure between market hunters and J.J. Audubon’s travels, his shooting and his art, common names came into being and some organization later decided on what specific common names would be used for what species.
I would agree on two other fronts – these are great images and it is a poor common name for this duck. I also agree that whatever ring there might be it is not what is generally used as a field mark. The bill and the leading edge of the white up forward of the folded wing are what most people use.
Wonderful lesson as usual!
Dick, have you by chance read William Souder’s biography of Audubon “Under A Wild Sky”?. An interesting character living in interesting times!
Nope, haven’t read it, BUT I just ordered it from Amazon. Thanks.
Hope you enjoy it.
I have to laugh and say that I love your blog today, Ron!! As soon as I read it I thought of the blog you posted of this duck the other day. When you said it was a ring neck duck, I thought – “what ring neck??!!! The ring’s around it’s bill???”. With my very limited knowledge of ducks, I kept my thoughts to myself!! So today’s blog made me feel a little less ignorant!! I’m on my Kindle Fire so can’t enlarge your photos very much but plan to do on my desktop later!! Want to get a good look at that “ring”!!
I’d like to forget about that earlier post you mentioned, Jo Ann. Truly embarrassing!
How about calling it “the TAKE IT ON FAITH THERE’S A NECK RING DUCK”. There’s a lot of faith-based stuff ‘floating around’ these days, so it would be appropriate…
I wouldn’t have room for that name in the title line of my posts, Patty!
Then how about ring bill….
Very interesting post. How does one go about getting an species renamed?
I’m not sure, Arwen. That’s something I’ll have to look in to.
Thanks Ron! I don’t know my ducks like I should. I haven’t yet flown a peregrine, so all I’ve needed to know thus far is mallards and coots 😀
Excellent images, as usual!
Peregrines are probably the most popular of the “duck hawks”, but I know a falconer who caught 33 ducks during his two-year apprenticeship, using a little juvenile male red-tailed hawk that was in poor condition when he first acquired it. Other native birds commonly used for falconry, such as prairie falcons, gyrfalcons, goshawks, and Harris’s hawks are also good at catching ducks.
Redtails are more than capable of taking ducks, Mark, just as your falconer friend proved. When we were in Wyoming, “my” redtail (no more mine than the air I breathe) took about a dozen in a year, plus pheasants, too. The only thing is she took mallards, which were the primary species in that area during the winter. That’s why I don’t know much about the various duck species 😀 All I need to do is move to somewhere like Texas where all sorts of species are available. I do, however, have a bunch of really GOOD recipes for outrageously wonderful duck and pheasant dinners! The only problem is pulling all those feathers! Anyway, the deal I made with the redtail is I got the breast and she got the rest so that both of us were getting the best parts! And I cheated once, only giving her the head/neck and innards, saving the rest for me!
I don’t know my ducks as well as I should either, Laura. As I demonstrated on a recent post…
Ron:
Meant to be somewhat informative, and, perhaps, humorous. However, John James Audubon did indeed paint ring necked ducks, which means he shot them. And, although well familiar with firearms, I much prefer a camera for birds, never used a shotgun on them.
Personally I think ring necked ducks are handsome birds, and your photos epitomize that.
I agree, Richard, they’re very handsome.
It is poorly named! I sure wouldn’t notice it. Love the 2nd shot. They do have a pretty bill for sure! 🙂
Thanks, Judy.
Love the 2nd shot in particular. I agree with the common name being “not so much” as, unless it’s mentioned and I look hard, I sure wouldn’t spot it. It is a pretty duck with and unusual pretty bill! 🙂
Weird – server was throwing a “502” error so the 2nd comment!
I get those 502’s occasionally too, Judy. Sometimes they’re a sign of real server problems, sometimes they’re apparently just hiccups.
Ron:
When the ring necked duck was so-named, it was a bird in the hand. Audubon was an excellent shot. Birders and artists no longer run around with a shotgun, but rather with binoculars and cameras never imagined in past years. But, however important it may be taxonomically, the neck ring on the ring necked duck is no field mark! Good thing the bill is so distinctive.
Nice “shots” by the way!
Thanks, Richard. In my research I didn’t come up with Audubon’s name being associated with this duck and that surprised me. Maybe I just missed it…