{"id":119186,"date":"2023-12-18T04:36:54","date_gmt":"2023-12-18T11:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=119186"},"modified":"2024-01-19T04:15:38","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T11:15:38","slug":"ruddy-duck-drake-what-a-difference-20-days-makes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/18\/ruddy-duck-drake-what-a-difference-20-days-makes\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruddy Duck Drake – What A Difference 20 Days Makes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just 20 days can make a big difference in the way this Ruddy Duck drake looks. His bill is a lot bluer now than it was when I first saw him at my local pond.<\/p>\n

\"RuddyRuddy Duck drake on November 25, 2023 \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

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I first saw this Ruddy Duck drake and a hen on November 14th. I didn’t take any good photos of him that day, but on the 25th of November, I took this image.<\/p>\n

The adult Ruddy Duck barely had any blue on his bill on that date. There was only a hint of the sky blue his bill will be in full breeding plumage, close to his face.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ruddy Duck drakes are known for going into their breeding plumage later than most other ducks in North America.<\/p>\n

But this Ruddy Duck drake?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

He has surprised me. You’ll see why in the next photo.<\/p>\n

\"RuddyRuddy Duck drake on December 15, 2023 \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Just twenty days after I took the first photo, this drake Ruddy Duck’s bill is a lot bluer. In fact, it is practically all blue now, which is earlier than I would have expected.<\/p>\n

Plus, if you look closely, you can see chestnut-colored feathers on his flanks. The males of this species have chestnut-colored bodies in breeding plumage. He had no chestnut colored feathers on his body just twenty days ago.<\/p>\n

I don’t know why this drake Ruddy Duck is transitioning into breeding plumage this soon, but I find it fascinating. I plan on continuing my observations of this male duck if he and his mate stick around at my local pond.<\/p>\n

Birds? They make life interesting.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Ruddy Duck photos plus facts and information on this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just 20 days can make a big difference in the way this Ruddy Duck drake looks. His bill is a lot bluer now than it was when I first saw him at my local pond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,2397,709,26],"tags":[4004,970,7840,4386,4753,4483,1129,126,4620,4062,2312,4246,2398,10698,1984,2447,13636,8018,3996],"class_list":["post-119186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-ruddy-ducks","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-bill-color","tag-blue-bill","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-fall","tag-male","tag-molt","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-oxyura-jamaicensis","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-ruddy-duck","tag-transitioning","tag-urban","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t