Ring-necked Ducks
This was the 2nd picture I got this past season of Ring-necked Ducks . (The 1st picture wasn't a good but you can look at it if you want to.) You might be thinking "I don't see any rings on the necks - this must be a misidentification", buf if you were close enough you would see a ring around the neck (even though it's difficult/impossible to see from a distance). This is certainly one of those instances where the bird got its common name from someone seeing the bird up close, and they almost certainly got that close look because the bird was dead. I was (mildly) victimized by these ducks being named after such a subtle physical trait. Years ago when I saw them, got some pictures, and attempted to identify them, I got to a webpage listing the names of all the ducks in my area. As I went down the list, I skipped right over the link for Ring-necked Ducks because I felt certain there was no ring around their neck. This led me to erroneously believe that the best fi...