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Mixed pair of "mallards"

jrabq

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Joined
Jul 4, 2014
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NM
Opening day in south zone of New Mexico was frustrating due to poor shooting and some mental glitches (becoming more frequent with age), but got this interesting combo. Last year I shot a banded Mexican duck drake and several greenheads, today I shot a banded mallard drake and a Mexican duck hen. The hen Mexicans are a bit harder to tell apart from mallards, but the speculum is a different color, the bill is a bit different (more solid color), and the feathers under the tail are much darker. Over the years I'm sure I shot many Mexican hens and assumed they were mallards, I've been a little more diligent with the ID lately.

20211028_125800.jpg
 
Do the Mexican ducks get a lot of fat on them since they are basically non migratory?

I haven't noticed any difference on average, the hen I shot today was not particularly fat. And I'd guess they still migrate to some extent, the drake I shot last year was banded in northern Colorado.
 
Nice brace of birds and a tip of the cap to honing your ID skills.
Thanks, but it mostly doesn't really matter regarding Mallards vs Mexican ducks because they count the same in the limit, just something I got more interested in since the recently "declared" Mexican ducks as a separate species. But there is a potentially dicey situation where you have 2 mallard hens and a Mexican duck drake, which is perfectly legal but can you convince a novice game warden :rolleyes:. Heck years ago I had to convince a Federal game warden that a gadwall hen was not a mallard, people like that need another job!
 
Yes sir those stories exist. And it isnt always the novice game warden. Some seasoned guys who don't waterfowl hunt or regularly enforce waterfowl regulations can and do get it wrong.
 
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