28 Ducks in Florida

This is a listing of 28 types of ducks in Florida. Some are seen year-round while some are seasonal, and some are rarities just passing through. No matter when you find them, ducks are beautiful waterfowl and are fun to watch, photograph, or hunt.

Ducks, swans, and geese are part of the bird world also known as Waterfowl. Other birds that are considered waterfowl are loons, grebes, and coots.

Like the rest of the bird world, it’s the male ducks that show off their beautiful plumage in the breeding season. Male ducks are also known as Drakes, and females are called Hens.

Ducks can be found throughout Florida. They can be divided into groups by their feeding habits:

For more birdwatching in Florida see our articles on Backyard Birds in Florida and Woodpeckers in Florida.

Types of Ducks in Florida

Dabbling Ducks are mostly found in fresh water and can be identified as dabblers by their habit of tipping their heads down and butts up when they feed in shallow waters. If their asses are in the air; they are dabbling ducks. Dabbling Ducks are the proverbial puddle ducks found in small ponds.

Diving ducks will get themselves wet all at the same time. You can find these ducks in freshwater, saltwater, and brackish water, on lakes, streams, bays, and inlets.

Sea ducks are diving ducks. They can stay down for long periods. Most live on the open ocean or offshore islands during the summer and come into the coastal waters in winter.

Dabbling Ducks

1. American Black Duck

Scientific Name: Anas rubripes                                  Size: 23 inches

American Black Duck resemble female Mallards, but they are slightly smaller and their feathers and eye stripes are darker than those found on the female Mallard. They have grayish bills and orange legs and feet. 

These ducks show a purple-blue speculum. They are year-round residents in Florida.

Since American Black Ducks cross easily with the Mallard, there are many hybrids. And like Mallards, American Black Ducks quack. They are ground nesters and seed eaters but they also like some animal proteins mixed in.

Bird Notes

The American Black Duck was the model for Daffy Duck (he’s black, but they’re not).

2. Mallard Duck

Scientific Name: Anas platyrhynchos      Size: 23 inches

The most common ducks in Florida and up and down the East Coast.

Male Mallards have distinctive iridescent green heads, white neck rings, brown breasts, and pale bodies while the females are all brown. Both have bright orange feet.

Mallards have blue wing patches, called a speculum, that are mostly seen in flight but can occasionally be observed when the ducks are going about their other doings.

These ducks are the quintessential dabbling duck. They eat seeds that have fallen to the bottom of shallow ponds, nest on the ground on dry land, and quack.

Genetically, Mallards will cross with other wild duck species (like American Black Duck and Muscovy), but also with ducks such as Domestic Mallards, Domestic Muscovy, Pekin, and other domesticated breeds.

These hybrids may end up looking like a Mallard, something resembling a Mallard – or nothing like a Mallard.

Bird Notes

Mallards are opportunists and love to swim in your pool, uncovered or covered (if there’s standing water on your cover). They also like lawn sprinklers.

If you live near any water source, be on the lookout for Mom Mallard leading her little ones back to the pond.

!!! Going down to the local pond to feed the ducks? No bread, please! Bread has absolutely no nutritional value for waterfowl, and causes a disease known as “Angel Wing”, which prevents the birds from flying and makes them a “sitting duck” for predators.

Bring them cracked corn or commercial duck feed instead. The waterfowl will thank you.

3. Mottled Duck

Scientific Name: Anas fulvigula         Size: 18.5 to 21 inches

Duck with a rich brown body, buffy head, neck, and a bright yellow bill. Mottled Ducks have a black spot near the gape – this distinguishes them from Mallards and American Black Ducks, which have similar coloration and which the Mottled Duck hybridizes with.

Mottled Ducks prefer shallow fresh or brackish wetlands. Look for them in roadside ditches and impoundments with 6 inches of water or less.

Bird Notes

Mottled Ducks are very closely related to American Black Ducks and Mexican Ducks, and slightly less so to Mallards.

Mottled Ducks hybridize with Mallards so easily that the mix has a name – Muddled Ducks – and can be difficult to tell apart from actual Mottled Ducks.

4. Wood Duck

Scientific Name: Aix sponsa          Size: 18.5 inches

Striking, small, compact ducks are usually seen in pairs or solo, but seldom in big flocks. They are usually found on quiet lakes, ponds, and streams.

In Florida, Wood Ducks are usually year-round residents.

Male Wood Ducks are beautifully colored, with an iridescent green head, cinnamon body, red eyes, bold white markings, and a slightly domed head. Female Wood Ducks are brown with distinctive white eyeliner markings on their face. Both have a slightly longer tail.

Wood Ducks nest in tree cavities and man-made nest boxes above the ground to keep their young secure from predators.

Bird Notes

When they are ready to leave the nest, the young Wood Ducks take a leap of faith – they jump out of their nest, hit the ground, and waddle off in search of water.

5. American Wigeon

Scientific Name: americana         Size: 20 inches

A squat duck with a pinkish-brown body and a small bill.

Males have a white or buffy stripe on their foreheads and an iridescent green splash starting behind the eye. The female has a dull gray head. While the female American Wigeons have a husky-sounding quack, the males whistle. This is a duck you will hear before you see it.

American Wigeons feed on pond vegetation like most dabbling ducks and are ground nesters.

Bird Notes

An old name for the American Wigeon was “Baldpate” because it was thought that the white stripe on the males resembled an old man’s bald head.

If you see an American Wigeon with a rufous head and a buff-colored forehead stripe, it may be a cousin from across the ocean, the Eurasian Wigeon. Eurasian Wigeons turn up occasionally as rare winter visitors among the groups of their American Wigeon relatives.

6. Gadwall Duck

Scientific Name: Anas strepera                  Size: 20 inches

A stocky duck with a rather subdued gray-brown plumage and yellow feet. Gadwalls are usually found in Florida during migration.

The male has black feathers on its rump in the breeding season. If you see a dull brown duck with a black butt, it has to be a male Gadwall.

If you find the ducks with the black butts, the less flashy brown females near them are likely female Gadwalls.

Gadwalls are ground nesters, like most dabbling ducks.

Bird Notes

Gregarious ducks, Gadwall like to hang out with other duck species, especially American Wigeon. You can pick them out of a crowd by the male’s black rump.

7. Northern Pintail

Scientific Name: Anas acuta                        Size: 21 inches

A slender, elegant dabbling duck with a very long tail and neck and a sleek, clean look.

If a duck was going to attend a formal affair, it’d look like a Northern Pintail. All they would need to dress up is a bow tie for the male and a string of pearls for the female.

The male has a brown head with a black bill, a long white neck and breast, and a gray body while the female is dull buffy brown with a gray bill. Northern Pintails have a bronze or dark brown speculum that shows when they are on the wing.

Bird Notes

Northern Pintails are called “Greyhound of the Air” due to their long, slender, streamlined flight profile.

8. Northern Shoveler

Scientific Name: Anas clypeata                                  Size: 19 inches

Large dabbling duck with an unmistakable long, spoon-shaped bill.

The males have an iridescent green head, while the chest, breast, and rump with a chestnut side and belly. Female Northern Shovelers are speckled brown.    

The characteristic feature of the Northern Shoveler is its spoon-shaped bill, which is dark gray (black in breeding season) in the male and olive and light orange in the female. Shovelers use their broad bills to filter seeds, invertebrates, aquatic insects, and small mollusks and crustaceans from the mud.

Northern Shovelers are ground nesters. The female voice is a short, deep quack. Males are more nasal.

Bird Notes

No other dabbling duck has a bill as long as a Northern Shoveler.

Northern Shovelers also work together, swimming in circles to stir up any seeds and weeds that will float to the surface, and then eating what arises.

9. Blue-winged Teal Duck

Scientific Name: Anas discors                    Size: 15.5 inches

A small, slender duck with beautiful male breeding plumage. In Florida, they are only seen starting in early fall, during migration. Look for them in shallow water, close to the shoreline.

The males have a distinctive white crescent on their face, dark blue head, dark bill, and white hip patch on a dark mottled brown body; the mottled brown female has a dark eye stripe and a white patch on her face close to the bill.

When in flight, they can be identified by their sky-pale blue secondary feathers and iridescent green speculum. Their flight profile is small, slender, and fast.

Teal are ground nesters. Female Blue-winged Teals have a harsh, squeaky nasal quack while male Teals have a high-pitched whistle.

Bird Notes

Blue-winged Teals prefer shallow marshy ponds and mudflats and like to be close to edges, where they can pick out seeds and other vegetation.

10. Green-winged Teal Duck

Scientific Name: Anas crecca                      Size: 14 inches

 A year-round resident of the state, this beautiful duck is the smallest of the dabbling ducks and has a short neck and slender, short bill. Green-winged Teal can be easily identified in all plumages by their size.

The breeding male sports a rufous head with a bright iridescent green splash starting at the eye. He has a white vertical bar on his shoulder against a light grayish body and a pinkish-brown breast.

Females look like little female Mallards, with grey legs and feet, a darker head, and a dark eye line.

In flight, Green-winged Teal shows a green speculum. They are fast flyers with quick wingbeats.

Bird Notes

The Green-winged Teal is a very small duck. Even when in a large mixed flock, the Green-winged Teal is the tiniest duck on the pond.

Whistling Ducks

Whistling Ducks are in a family all their own. Genetically, they fall between ducks and geese, and they have a more goose-like appearance than the ducks we usually see.

11. Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Scientific Name: Dendrocygna fulgens             Size:13 inches

Looking more like a cross between a duck and a goose, Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks have long necks, bright dark pink to red bills, and long pink legs and feet. Both sexes look alike; having chestnut bodies, gray faces, and black bellies. Another field mark to look for is a solid white eye ring.

Juveniles have browner bodies than adults, with black bills and pale legs.

In flight, these birds show a white patch on their upper wings (also visible as a stripe down the wing when not flying). Another way to identify these birds on the wing is that those big pink legs trail behind their bodies, and they tend to fly with heads and necks lower than their body lines.

Bird Notes

Females often lay their eggs in other Whistling-Duck nests, known as “egg dumping”.

The South American Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (dendrocygna autumnalis) has a pale gray-brown band between the neck and the belly.

12. Fulvous Whistling Duck

 Scientific Name: Dendrocygna bicolor                  Size: 18 to 21 inches

An odd-looking waterfowl species that seems like a cross between a duck and a goose.

Males and female Fulvous Whistling-Ducks look the same – there is no difference in plumages between the sexes. These ducks have long necks and heavy, long legs. Their feet, legs, and bills are bluish-gray. There is broad black barring on their backs and upper wings while their bodies and heads are beautiful rich cinnamon. The females may have a little more black coloration on the crowns of their heads and the backs of their necks than the males, but that’s the only difference.

In flight, Fulvous Whistling Ducks show cinnamon heads and underparts with dark wings both underneath and on top.

Fulvous Whistling-Ducks prefer warm shallow freshwater – mangrove swamps and coastal lagoons are favorites. The rice fields of the south are excellent Fulvous Whistling Duck locations, providing good food sources and the “just right” depth of water for the birds to live in.

They are group feeders, eating together during the daylight hours and flying noisily onto roosting grounds at dusk.

Bird Notes

Like the Wood Duck, the Fulvous Whistling Duck is a cavity nester, and Whistling Ducks were once known as “Tree Ducks”.

These ducks were another casualty of pesticides like the Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, and Bald Eagle. Spraying the rice fields in the Deep South during the 1960s caused a huge decline in their population. With the banning of those pesticides, their numbers have come back and they are no longer threatened.

Diving Ducks

13. Ring-neck Duck

Scientific Name: Aythya collatis            Size:17 inches

A medium-sized diving duck found in freshwater; the Ring-necked Duck is one of the common migrants in Florida, seen in fall and winter.

The male has a black head with a noticeable “bump” towards the top, a black back and rump, a light gray body, and a white vertical splash between the body and the breast. There is a white stripe between his head and a light gray bill with a black tip.

There is a ring around the Ring-necked Duck, but it is brown and very hard to see from a distance.

The female’s back is a medium-gray over a light brown body. She has a white eye ring, and a white spot between her head and her bill is the same as the male.

The Ring-neck Duck likes to nest in woody-edged marshes. They eat mostly aquatic plants, along with clams and snails.

Bird Notes

Ring-neck Ducks look a lot like Lesser and Greater Scaup. See Birds Notes on the Greater Scaup to find some tips on telling these birds apart from each other.

14. Lesser Scaup

Scientific Name: Aythya affinis                Size:16.5 inches

Diving ducks that are found on freshwater ponds and also on lakes and bays, Lesser Scaups feed primarily on clams and other marine prey but also eat vegetation.

In Florida, Lesser Scaups are seen during migration.

The male has a black head (which may show a purplish iridescence in certain light), neck, and breast like the Ring-neck Duck, but his back is light gray barring, a larger proportion of white body, and a larger black rear. He has a blue bill but no white strip between the bill and his head.

The female, however, has a white crescent around her bill, a dark-brown head, neck, and breast, a brown-gray body, and a darker brown back. The Lesser Scaup has a sort of square-top head.

They like to nest near lakes and ponds in marsh-like vegetation. Lesser Scaups feed primarily on clams and other marine prey but also eat vegetation.

Bird Notes

Identification tips for all three of these similar-looking birds can be found in the Bird Notes section under Greater Scaup.

15. Greater Scaup

Scientific Name: Aythya marila                 Size: 18 inches

These diving ducks are found on saltwater bays and lakes and are often found in large numbers. Greater Scaups are seen in Florida during winter months.

The male has a black head (which may show a greenish iridescence in certain light), neck, and breast, like the Ring-neck Duck and Lesser Scaup, but his back has light gray barring on top of a white body and a larger black rump. He has a blue bill but no white strip between the bill and his head.

The female has a white crescent around her bill, a dark-brown head, neck, and breast, a brown-gray body, and a darker brown back.

If this sounds similar to the duck listed above, it is. There is not much difference between Lesser and Greater Scaup, so it’s hard to tell them apart.

Greater Scaup has rounded heads; from certain angles, it almost looks like they are slouching. Even this doesn’t help much when trying to make an identification, but hopefully, our Bird Notes will.

Bird Notes

Ring-neck Duck, Lesser Scaup and sometimes Greater Scaup can be found on the same body of water (sometimes in large flocks), making their identification difficult. These are probably the most confusing species of ducks you’ll have to identify.

The male Ring-neck Duck has a black back, its bill has a black tip, and it has a white stripe between its face and its bill, and the females have a white eye ring.

The male Lesser Scaup has a light gray back, no black tip on the bill, and a squarish black head with a purplish iridescence when seen in good light. The female Lesser Scaup has no white eye ring.

The Greater Scaup has a rounded black head with green iridescence and a slightly lighter gray back than the Lesser Scaup. The female has a lighter brown back.

Usually, Greater Scaup is greater in salt water, Lesser Scaup is greater than Greater Scaup in fresh water, and Ring-neck is greater than Lesser and Greater Scaup in fresh water. 

Still confused? Don’t feel bad – even the seasoned birder has a hard time with this group, especially with the two Scaup species.

16. Ruddy Duck

Scientific Name: Oxyura jamaicensis                        Size: 15 inches

Small, stocky, large-headed duck with a stiff, cocked-up tail. Ruddy Ducks are winter residents of Florida.

Male Ruddy Ducks have a black cap on their heads, white cheeks, rufous body, and blue bill in full breeding plumage; non-breeding male still has distinctive white cheeks and black cap over a brownish-gray body.

Female Ruddy Ducks look like the non-breeding male but with a brown cap and a white cheek and have a brown horizontal stripe across it.

Their tails are stiff and spiky and stand up when they are swimming. Their small, compact silhouette looks like a rubber duck, and they float like rubber ducks in a tub.

Bird Notes

Serious night feeders, Ruddy Duck can often be found napping with their heads tucked in and their tails straight up during the day.

17. Canvasback Duck

Scientific Name: Aythya valisineria                           Size: 21 inches

Large duck with distinctive sloping head, long, tapering black bill, red eye, and a long neck. Canvasbacks are winter visitors to Florida.

The male has a chestnut-red head and neck and black breast on a white body in full breeding plumage (light grayish brown in non-breeding season) while female heads are light brown in the breeding season.

The Canvasback has a sloping head that makes it stand out among the diving ducks, except for the Eiders.

Canvasbacks like to nest on small ponds. In mating season, the male Canvasback makes a kind of weird hooting to attract his mate.

They eat vegetation and aquatic invertebrates.

Bird Notes

The Canvasback is one of the largest diving ducks and has a memorable silhouette, making it stand out when viewed in bad lighting.

18. Redhead Duck

Scientific Name: Aythya americana          Size: 19 to 20 inches

The Redhead is a beautiful, eye-catching diving duck. Seeing them in full sunlight shows just how stunning their plumage is, and makes them easy to spot among big mixed flocks.

The male Redhead has a bright rufous head, a blue bill with a black tip, a gray body with a slightly rounded back, and a black chest and rump.

The female Redhead is a duller brown with a bluish-gray bill, with the same rounded head and body as the male.

The Redhead feeds on seeds, aquatic weeds, water lilies, grasses, and wild rice. They also go for mollusks, aquatic insects, and small fish.

Bird Notes

Redheads are social and are usually found on lakes and bays in the company of other duck species like Ring-neck Duck, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, and Canvasback.

19. Bufflehead Duck

Scientific Name: Bucephala albeola                                         Size: 13 to 16 inches

Buffleheads are small diving ducks found in both fresh and saltwater during the winter months.

Male Buffleheads have a large white patch on the back of their head, white body, and black back. The female is mostly grey and black with a white splash on the cheek

They stay together in small groups and are often seen cruising along in a flotilla.

Buffleheads are cavity nesters. Their diet is mostly mollusks, crustaceans, and insect larvae.

Bird Notes

Buffleheads appear like the proverbial rubber duck, bobbing up and down on the water. Notice that when they dive, there is always a single sentinel or a group that stays on top to look for signs of danger relative to the size of the group that’s underwater.

This can make them hard to count when doing a survey or even your own – 10 on top and 8 went down but now 2 came up and 5 went down??? Frustrating, but they are fun to watch!

Mergansers

Mergansers are diving ducks with long, thin bills for holding fish. There are two species of Mergansers found throughout Florida.

If you see any of these birds in Spring, you may be lucky enough to see the Merganser Dance. Males of all three species line up to impress the girls by bobbing heads, extending their necks, rising out of the water, snapping their bills, and making weird grunting sounds.

20. Hooded Merganser

Scientific Name: Lophodytes cucullatus                  Size:18 inches

Small Mergansers with long, slender bills are affectionately called “Hoodies” by birders. Mostly found on ponds and bays, especially if they have woods around them.

Male Hooded Mergansers have a cinnamon body, black head and back, and the distinctive black-and-white hood that, when closed, is somewhat rectangular in shape and rounded when opened.

The female has a long tail, a dark gray body, and a head with ample frosted brown feathers trailing behind their heads.

Resourceful birds, Hooded Mergansers utilize old woodpecker holes to lay their eggs in. Mergansers are mostly fish eaters and also consume crustaceans and insects.

Bird Notes

Female Mergansers always look like they’ve had a bad hair day, wet or dry. The female “Hoodies” appear to have had a moderate day compared to their other Merganser sisters.

21. Red-breasted Merganser

Scientific Name: Mergus serrator             Size: 23 inches

The largest Merganser. Red-breasted Mergansers, also known as Sawbills, are seen in Florida during winter months.

Both Red-breasted Mergansers have long, slim serrated bills. The male bill is red while the female’s bill is orange.

These large ducks sit low in the water. Loons also sit low in the water. Loons are big, heavy-bodied birds with thick bills. Red-breasted Mergansers are much smaller, lighter-bodied birds with thin bills. You shouldn’t mistake a Red-breasted Merganser for a Common Loon.

Red-breasted Mergansers have the worst hair days in the Merganser family. While the males can look like they’ve just gotten out of bed, the females look like they’ve just driven cross country in a convertible. It gets worse when they get wet.

Bird Notes

Red-breasted Mergansers need to eat seventeen fish a day on average. That means they have to dive between 250-300 times every day to meet their nutritional requirements.

Sea Ducks

While you would normally expect to find these ducks floating on the ocean, they do find their way into sheltered bays, estuaries, brackish waters, and large lakes in the interior.

22. Common Goldeneye

Scientific Name Bucephela clangula                        Size: 18.5 inches

Diving ducks with noticeable golden eyes and white cheek patches are seen on both fresh and saltwater during Florida winters.

Male Common Goldeneyes have a white body, black rump, greenish-black iridescent heads, and a white spot beneath their eyes.

The female Common Goldeneye has a light gray body, dark rump, and brown head.

Common Goldeneyes have a broad white wing patch very noticeable in flight.

Bird Notes

Common Goldeneye’s wings make a metallic whistling sound when they are in flight.

23. Long-tailed Duck

Scientific Name: Clangula hymalis                      Size: 20.5 inches

Whether they are diving, flying, or just hanging out on the water, Long-tailed Ducks always look like they are having fun. What’s a little cold when you’re watching these happy-go-lucky beautiful little ducks?

For the most part, Long-tailed Ducks are black or brown with white patches and markings.

The male Long-tailed Duck is strikingly patterned, changing plumage throughout the year. Breeding drakes have white heads, necks, and breasts and a black patch on their cheeks. Females are mostly brown with white patches.

Long-tailed Ducks are great divers and prefer mollusks and crustaceans for their dining pleasure. They are fast on the wing and fly lower than most other ducks.

Bird Notes 

Yodel-Ay-Hee-Hoo!!

These ducks are so much fun to watch! Long-tailed Ducks dive into the water like little daredevils. And they yodel! You may not be able to see them, but you can hear them loud and clear.

24. Common Eider

Scientific Name: Somateria mollissima                   Size: 24 inches

The largest duck in the northern hemisphere. They are heavy-bodied ducks with a classic, wedge-shaped, sloping head.

Look for Common Eider along the coast during winter months.

Common Eider males show numerous plumages between their first year and adulthood, all variations of brown and white. The breeding male is white with a black belly, rump, and a cap on his head.

Female Common Eiders are brown with barred plumage and a pale green bill.

Bird Notes

Do you sleep under Eider Down comforters or Duvets? This is where all those fluffy warm feathers come from.

Common Eiders fly low to the water in a straight line. Yes, these ducks are in a row.

25. King Eider

Scientific Name: Somateria spectabilis       Size:22 inches

A northern visitor occasionally found in Florida during winter, often mixed in with Common Eider flocks. While identifying the male is easy, figuring out if you’re looking at a female Common, female King, or immature of both species is difficult.

There is no mistaking a male King Eider in breeding plumage. The blue-white head and prominent yellow forehead stand out. Their bodies are black with a white neck and chest and a white hip patch.

Adult female King Eiders are similar to female Common, brown all over, but King Eiders have a shorter bill and the barred brown feathers have a chevron pattern. The head has a less Roman profile and a slightly “smiling” appearance.

Bird Notes

King Eiders are deep divers, hunting for mollusks, crustaceans, and aquatic insects, with an occasional side of eelgrass and algae.

26. Black Scoter                

Scientific Name: Melanitta nigra                 Size: 19 inches

The Black Scoter is the smallest and most compact of the Scoter family. In Florida, they can be found only during winter months.

They are dark sea ducks with short bills, usually found floating in rafts on the open salt water.

Males have yellow-orange bills and are all black; females are dark with whitish patches on the face and cheeks.

Black Scoters dive for clams and other crustaceans.

Bird Notes

Black Scoters are very vocal, making a whistling sound that carries over the water.

27. White-winged Scoter

Scientific Name: Melanitta fusca                                  Size:  21 inches

The largest of the Scoters, they are usually found in large rafts floating along with other members of the Scoter family. White-winged Scoters have a long bill and somewhat concave head.

Seasonal visitors to Florida, White-winged Scoters are found in winter months.

Males are black on top over a dark brown body, with a distinctive white “comma” below their eyes. The bills are orange and slightly puffed close to the head.

Female White-winged Scoters are dark brownish-black. Like the other female Scoters, they have two white patches on the face, one behind the eye and the other on the face between the eyes.

The white speculum on both sexes is an easy identification mark, not only when they are on the wing, but also when diving or sitting in the water.

Bird Notes

White-winged Scoters are usually found in mixed rafts along with Black Scoters. The male White-winged Scoter’s eye comma stands out, so if you count all the black ducks with white eye markings, the rest of the Scoters in the group must be Black Scoters. (This tip is courtesy of a waterfowl census-taker).

28. Surf Scoter

Scientific Name: Melanitta perspicillata                 Size: 20 inches

Surf Scoters are the Scoter species found closest to shore and the easiest to identify. Look for them in winter months on coastal bays and the Atlantic Ocean.

Surf Scoter males are all black with a white patch on the forehead and a larger one on the nape of the neck. They have heavy triangular, multi-colored, bulbous bills that stand out among the sea ducks. 

Male Surf Scoter bills appear orange from afar but are black, white, red, and yellow. They are wider and puffier at the top and taper towards the tip, making their heads look like a wedge.

The female Surf Scoter has two white patches on her face, one in the front being long and narrow while the other sits behind and beneath the eye. 

Surf Scoters like to be where the breaking waves are, so they are usually the Scoter found closest to shore. They dive for crustaceans, mollusks, small fish, and aquatic vegetation.

Bird Notes

An old name for the Surf Scoter used to be “Skunk Head”.

First-winter males do not have the large, protruding bill of mature adults.

Duck species in Florida that may be considered Domestic

Muscovy Ducks are the first on this list, followed by those beautiful breeds of Domestic Mallards. Many domestic ducks look like Mallards (Abacot Ranger, Australian Call Duck, Cayuga, Indian Runner). The Pekin (a. k. a Long Island Duckling) is all white. These guys are fun to watch, and may be found on your local bird checklist, but don’t usually count for state listings or life bird purposes.

Rare ducks that may be found in Florida

If you see a species of duck that appears to be a Ring-billed Duck but it has a long feather growing from the back of its head, that’s a Tufted Duck, a very rare visitor in Florida. You’ll probably need a scope to make positive IDs on the Tufted Duck because those extra head feathers could be either very long and easily visible or a very short curl.

A West Coast member of the Teal family, the Cinnamon Teal occasionally shows up in Florida. The male has stunning mahogany-red plumage with a big white wing patch and a dark green speculum. The female looks like the other female teals, with a dark gray bill.

Harlequin Ducks are also rare visitors to the Sunshine State. These little rough-and-tumble ducks like turbulent waters, so look around rocks, jetties, and piers for these beautifully patterned ducks.

Another uncommon winter vagrant is the Common Merganser. It’s the largest member of the Merganser family. Males have a dark green head on an all-white body while females look like the other two female Mergansers, but tend to have slightly longer and messier head feathers.

Fun Facts – Where’s the White?

White seems to be a color that most waterfowl have in common. This method of identifying species of waterfowl by where the white is comes from the Cornell Bird Lab.

The method works like this –   do you see white on the duck you’re observing? It’s in different areas on different duck species

• White-winged Scoters have a white comma under their eye and a very distinctive white speculum that can be seen in flight and when resting on the waves (and females have white face patches).

• Surf Scoters have a white patch on their foreheads and the back of their necks in addition to their huge bills (face patches on females apply here too).

• Black Scoter males have no white, and females have face patches.

Using the location of the white markings, you can see how to identify each of the Scoter species by seeing where the white is: a comma under the eye is a White-winged, forehead and neck patches are Surf, and no white at all means Black Scoter. Eventually, you will become familiar with the shapes and locations of the face patches on the females too, and become an expert Scoter spotter.

Where to find Ducks in Florida

Ducks are waterfowl, so the best places to find ducks in Florida are ponds, lakes, bays, beaches, the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, or estuaries – anywhere there is open water. As a large portion of Florida sits along the Atlantic Flyway, there are many places to get out and search for waterfowl and other species of birds in the state.

Favorite places to visit are anywhere on lakes, ponds, rivers, marshes, wetlands, beaches, and shorelines.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples is a good place to see Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, while Lake Apopka, about 25 minutes out of Orlando, is where to find Fulvous Whistling-Ducks. You can find winter sea ducks at Cape Canaveral National Seashore.

Most of the ducks mentioned here are winter visitors to Florida. Mallards, Wood Ducks, Mottled, and both species of Whistling Ducks are year-round residents, while Blue-winged Teal are only seen during Spring and Fall migrations.

National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) are awesome places for both bird watchers and duck hunters to search for ducks.

There are about 29 National Wildlife Refuges in Florida. These areas are prime viewing locations for migratory waterfowl.

Merritt Island is a great spot for wintering waterfowl and usually turns up a Cinnamon Teal and a Eurasian Wigeon or two. Another place to explore for ducks is St. Marks NWR in St. Marks.

                        *** If you visit one of the many National Wildlife Refuges in Florida, please consider purchasing a Federal Duck Stamp. ***

The $25 fee gets you a beautiful commemorative stamp featuring paintings of waterfowl. It also provides the network of National Wildlife Refuges with funds to maintain and preserve valuable wetland habitats such as freshwater marshes.

Showing your Federal Duck Stamp covers any entrance or parking fees at most National Wildlife Refuges.

Conclusion

In addition to the NWRs, there are also numerous wildlife preserves and local wildlife management areas that are awesome places to bird.

Whatever state you find yourself in, the local Audubon Society is also a good place to find where the ducks are being seen. Audubon Florida has great information on bird watching in the Sunshine State.