re: Duck Hunting Trophies

Has Bourg showed up yet to talk about the dude from the smithsonian or whatever that does the badass mounts for a high price?

Just did. frick you!

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i gotta call bullshite...unless it was someone who imported the bird and banded and released it

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I was thinking the same thing.

I got me a poul de'eau (coot) in the freezer waiting on his trip to the taxidermist this year. It will be my tribute to the shitty duck season we had this year.

coot is just easier to spell

Yeah, you're wrong...

Mottled

Black

There is no white on the tips of the blue on the ducks on my wall.

I didn't kill them in LA.

The top is a male the bottom is a female.

We don't have mottled ducks in North East MS where these were killed. There are occationally Black ducks.

Would you like some more info?

Black:

Black



Mottled:

Mottled

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Note: Restricted to gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana.

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The identification of Mottled vrs. American Black Duck is a little understood or appreciated field problem for observers. One of the problems causing confusion is that all of the standard field guides illustrate the nominate race of Mottled Ducks which in the U.S. is most commonly found in Florida and the eastern Gulf Coast. Birds from most of Louisiana and Texas are of the maculosa race commonly found in Mexico. Texas Mottleds can be every bit as dark as Black Ducks, show purple speculum (depending upon light angle), and have gleaming white wing linings. Our Mottleds can vary from pale to very dark birds. There are a number of accounts describing this in the literature, but not in standard field guides. Basically, to ID a true Black Duck it takes a very careful study of the feather edges of the scapulars, flank, back, etc. Mottleds show buffy internal markings on these feathers with a buffy edge, while Black Ducks lack any internal markings on these feathers and have very crisp, fine, lighter edges. There are some slight differences in the throat and facial markings as well, but these are subtle and very hard to see unless an extremely close view is obtained.



DESCRIPTION:  Mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula) are large brown ducks that appear very dark at a distance.  Mottled ducks are darker than hen mallards but slightly lighter in color than black ducks.  The mottled duck’s neck and head are lighter in color than the adjoining back and breast area, a pattern not seen in black ducks or hen mallards.  Male and female mottled ducks are almost identical in appearance, but they can be distinguished by bill coloration.  Males have a bright yellow to olive bill with a black spot at the base, while females have a dull orange bill with black blotches.  The speculum of the mottled ducks is a more greenish hue than that of mallards or black ducks.  A narrow, white edging usually is present on the trailing edge of the speculum and is rarely present on the leading edge.

DISTRIBUTION:  The mottled duck’s annual life cycle is spent entirely in a narrow band of marsh habitat along the Gulf Coast stretching from south Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, to the southern tip of the Florida peninsula..



DESCRIPTION:  Mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula) are large brown ducks that appear very dark at a distance.  Mottled ducks are darker than hen mallards but slightly lighter in color than black ducks.  The mottled duck’s neck and head are lighter in color than the adjoining back and breast area, a pattern not seen in black ducks or hen mallards.  Male and female mottled ducks are almost identical in appearance, but they can be distinguished by bill coloration.  Males have a bright yellow to olive bill with a black spot at the base, while females have a dull orange bill with black blotches.  The speculum of the mottled ducks is a more greenish hue than that of mallards or black ducks.  A narrow, white edging usually is present on the trailing edge of the speculum and is rarely present on the leading edge.

Again, this is the key here:

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DISTRIBUTION: The mottled duck’s annual life cycle is spent entirely in a narrow band of marsh habitat along the Gulf Coast stretching from south Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, to the southern tip of the Florida peninsula

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I was in North East MS when I killed both of these on two consecutive weekends.