424 - A Torrent of Mis-Named Birds

About this episode

The episode discusses the identification of waterfowl, specifically the confusion between ring-billed and ring-necked ducks.

First, we squinted, then we peered through binoculars, and finally I zoomed in with my camera to make sense of the dark shapes. The ducks had a funny conehead and a gracefully swooped patch of gray on their side. The pale ring around their dark beak was the most distinctive character. I'm not good at waterfowl, so I wracked my brain for a likely ID…were they ring-billed ducks? That would be logical. But no, a quick peek through the Merlin app's helpful photos confirmed that these were ring-necked ducks. Huh?

People in this episode

Host: Emily Stone

Topics covered

• bird identification
• waterfowl
• nature observation
• binoculars
• photography
• app usage

Keywords

• waterfowl
• birdwatching
• duck identification
• Merlin app
• nature photography

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Merlin app

Books & works: ring-necked ducks, ring-billed ducks

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