Bird Guide

Black-headed Duck vs Masked Duck

Black-headed Duck (Heteronetta atricapilla)

Black-headed Duck

Heteronetta atricapilla

Large538 gWetland

The black-headed duck is the most basal living member of its subfamily, and it lacks the stiff tail and swollen bill of its relatives. Overall much resembling a fairly typical diving duck, its plumage and other peculiarities indicate it may not be a very close relative of the other stiff-tailed ducks, but rather the product of convergent evolution from the ancestors of the stiff-tailed ducks. The black-headed duck is about 35 cm (14 in) long. Males weigh an average of about 510 g (18 oz) and females 565 g (20 oz). Voice: The black-headed duck is usually silent. It does give a low "quah quah" as part of a courtship display, and also "a two note grunt followed by a whistle: – gr-rump-freet." Females make "clucking notes."

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Hugo Hulsberg · CC0
Masked Duck (Nomonyx dominicus)

Masked Duck

Nomonyx dominicus

Large365 gWetland

Breeding adult males have a rust-colored body with a black face and mottled wings. Adult females, winter males, and juveniles have a barred brownish gray body, with two horizontal, dark-colored stripes running through the buff-colored face.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Black-headed Duck and Masked Duck.