Winter is the time for ducks in Cape May since our only locally breeding ducks are mallards, black ducks, wood ducks and, recently, gadwall. We had 13 duck species on this morning’s walk, including a couple of less-common Redheads. Most ducks undergo two molts per year with the 2nd occurring in the late fall and early winter; the birds we’re seeing now are looking pretty spiffy, most with fresh body feathers. You might notice an exception though. There are quite a few Ruddy Ducks in Lighthouse and Bunker Ponds and ruddys have a delayed molt and won’t be looking their best until spring.
47 species (+1 other taxa)
Tundra Swan 7
Northern Shoveler 18
Gadwall 1
American Wigeon 1
Mallard 75
American Black Duck 1
Northern Pintail 12
Green-winged Teal (American) 33
Redhead 2
Surf Scoter 2
Bufflehead 7
Hooded Merganser 16
Ruddy Duck 11
American Coot (Red-shielded) 11
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull (American) 6
Great Black-backed Gull 18
Northern Gannet 4
Double-crested Cormorant 5
Great Blue Heron (Blue form) 7
Black-crowned Night-Heron 3
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk (Northern) 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker (Eastern) 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 5
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 4
Carolina Chickadee 3
Tree Swallow 13
Carolina Wren (Northern) 5
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
Hermit Thrush 2
American Robin 12
American Goldfinch 3
Field Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 3
Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged) 100
Common Grackle 200
blackbird sp. 300
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 20
Northern Cardinal 9
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
Redhead photo by Kathy Horn
Gadwall photo by Kathy Horn
