Hen/Drake Gadwall?

[Nicolin]

Alright so about a week and a half ago a buddy and me went out duck hunting and shot 7 ducks. 5 drake blackjacks and 2 gadwalls. So after posting a picture of us on our facebook, one of our friends starting giving us crap about shooting the 2 hen gadwalls. I thought that they were drakes, so my question is, do hen gadwalls have the red on their wings like the drakes? How can i easily identify if they were drakes or hens? I looked on the internet but nothing really helped me, so if you know something let me know!

[OutForBlood87]

Pretty easy to tell apart. They both have that red/burgundy color on the wings, just the drake has alot more of it. A hen will have an orange bill and a drake will have a black bill. On the water you can tell the hen and drake apart pretty easy. When the hen is on the water, the white wing speculim is exposed. On the drake you wont see this.

An imature drake will look exactly like a hen except for the bill.

If you can post pics of them I can tell you what they are.

[Nicolin]

Heres the pic, not sure if it will help but i personally thought there was some black coming in on the bills for both. i guess ill let you guys decide for us.
http://i376.photobucket.com/albums/oo201/nicolin13/n796096434_936772_7616.jpg

[Nicolin]

we didn't take a picture with the wings, but there was quite a bid of red on them.

[meschke]

http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq345/csm4130/ringnecks.jpg

this one shows the bills a bit better.

[OutForBlood87]

Those are both hens.

Here is a pic from the DU website. The drake is in front and the hen is in back.

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii116/OutForBlood87/KhansaGadwall.jpg

[meschke]

does someone have a picture that has both a hen and drake belly up? or can you not tell by the belly?

[Adjhunt]

Both of those are hens. I was looking around for a picture of the belly's but couldn't find a good one. I'll let you know if I do.

[Wingman]

If there is any orange on the bill you have yourself a hen. Here is a cropped picture of a couple dead ones. (not all belly up sorry). Drakes are in the back (Black Bills) and the hen gadwall is next to the drake mallard..

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/9848/gadwalldrakeplushendn8.jpg (http://img183.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gadwalldrakeplushendn8.jpg)


Cheers,

Adam

[meschke]

thanks guys!

[woodiesmacker]

hard to tell in that picture, and contrary to what has been said in a previous post, orange on the bill is not a sure way to tell drakes from hens. Juvie drakes will show orange on the bills, shot plenty like that. Best way to tell is by looking at the rump, side pockets, and the tertial feathers on the back. Those two birds in your post look pretty dark to be hens, but that could be due to the camera settings.

[Nicolin]

ya thanks guys, i wasn't sure if either were an eclipse drake but they are not. Thanks for the input!

[Zach Byron]

hard to tell in that picture, and contrary to what has been said in a previous post, orange on the bill is not a sure way to tell drakes from hens. Juvie drakes will show orange on the bills, shot plenty like that. Best way to tell is by looking at the rump, side pockets, and the tertial feathers on the back. Those two birds in your post look pretty dark to be hens, but that could be due to the camera settings.
I agree, and after reading these I did some research. I think they are eclipsed drakes, because, well I saw the birds in person after the hunt, and they had too much red on their wings to be hens, also, look at any of the pics, hens are way more brown, these are starting to get that gray!

[meschke]

looks like im gonna start getting pictures of wings if in doubt!! :)

[callem'andkillem']

Look like two hens to me, but hard to tell from the pictures.

[Nicolin]

I agree, and after reading these I did some research. I think they are eclipsed drakes, because, well I saw the birds in person after the hunt, and they had too much red on their wings to be hens, also, look at any of the pics, hens are way more brown, these are starting to get that gray!
alright after getting some more posts and looking at some of the websites that a few people have been sending me i think they are eclipse drakes. zach sent me a site with wings, and both adult and immature drakes have a black line of feathers next to the red, females do not. ours also had black along with the red. i have a picture of that but cant find it as of now, its probably at my house 300 miles away. i too also thought they were to dark to be hens, and the camera adjusts to light so i dont think it was cause of that, but it could be. if anyone thinks otherwise please still say, cause we could still be wrong.

[Lybeck]

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc73/J2thelybeck2007/20081114_0551.jpg

[SD snow goose killer]

if i were to guess, i would say that they are both hens, just my 2 cents..

[Kent Contreras]

I'd like to add my .02 for helping out in the future. There are lots of ways to id your birds but the best thing I have found and still have a copy of it, is the "LeMaster Method of waterfowl identification" book. I believe they are about $10.00 thru Cabelas. It is by far, in my opinion, the best quick id book out there. Get one, they help out and has some great info. Beaks, feet and flight patterns plus plumage on some. It doesn't have a few birds in it but it has most.