Focus on Ducks

A great variety of waterfowl -- mainly ducks, geese, and an occasional loon and grebe, show up regularly in Central Park during the fall and winter. Here are some of the current visitors to be seen on the Park's various water bodies, as cataloged yesterday (11/22) by Ben Cacace and published on eBirds. They are organized according to status -- that is, in groups, from less common to more common. (Within each group they appear in taxonomic order)

Selected photos follow the list

Less common:
Wood Duck - 1 female type plumage on lake S of the Oven
Pied-billed Grebe - 3 on the reservoir's N edge
Gadwall - 3+ on the reservoir incl. 2 male / 1 female
Hooded Merganser - 11+ on the reservoir incl. 5 male / 6 female
American Black Duck - Pair (m/f) on the reservoir's N edge
More common:
Mallard - 100+ on the reservoir
Northern Shoveler - 70+ on the reservoir
Bufflehead - 14+ on the reservoir incl. 11 male / 3 female
Ruddy Duck - 410+ on the reservoir mainly on the NW edge

Gadwall - 10/17/07
photo by David Speiser


Wood Duck - 11/27/2006
Photo by Cal Vornberger

Northern Shoveller - 11/12/05

Bufflehead - 11/25/05

Hooded Merganser -- 11/25/05
3 photos by Lloyd Spitalnik