27 Ducks in Massachusetts

This article tells you all about the ducks in Massachusetts.  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, the male ducks 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 Massachusetts. They can be divided into groups by their feeding habits:

• Dabbling Ducks are mostly found in fresh water and can be identified as dabblers by their habit of tipping their heads down and butt up when they feed. If their asses are in the air; they are dabbling ducks.

• Diving ducks will get themselves wet at the same time. You can find these on fresh and salt water, on lakes and streams as well as on bays and inlets.

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

If you want to find out about other birds to find in Massachusetts check out our article on 31 Backyard Birds in Massachusetts, Hawks in Massachusetts, Owls in Massachusetts, Woodpeckers in Massachusetts, and Black Birds in Massachusetts. We tell you how to identify these birds and of course show you pictures.

Dabbling Duck

1. Mallard Duck

Description

The most common duck in Massachusetts and up and down the East Coast.

The male has a distinctive iridescent green head, white neck ring, brown breast, and pale body while the female is all brown. Both have bright orange feet.

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

Mallards 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 that resembles a Mallard – or nothing like a Mallard at all.

Bird Notes

Mallards are adventurous. They will travel from their pond to your neighborhood and may make their nest on your lawn.

They are also opportunists and love to swim in your pool, uncovered or covered (if there’s standing water on your cover), and 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 a commercial duck feed instead. The waterfowl will thank you for it.

2. American Wigeon Duck

Description

 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.

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

Bird Notes

If you see an American Wigeon with a rufous head and a buff-colored forehead stripe, it may actually 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.

3. Gadwall Duck

Description

A stocky duck with a rather subdued gray-brown plumage and yellow feet. Gadwall is usually found in groups.

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 of the dabbling ducks (the exception is coming next).

Bird Notes

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

4. Wood Duck

Description

Small, compact ducks are usually seen in pairs or solo, but almost never in big flocks. They are usually found on quiet lakes, ponds, and streams.

The male is beautifully colored, with an iridescent green head, cinnamon body, red eyes, bold white markings, and a slightly domed head. The female is brown with distinctive white eyeliner markings on her 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 literally take a leap of faith – they jump out of their nest, hit the ground, and waddle off in search of water.

 

5. American Black Duck

 Description

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

American Black Duck shows a purple-blue speculum.

Since American Black Duck crosses 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, they’re really not).

 6. Northern Pintail Duck

Description

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

The breeding 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.

They nest on the ground; the average clutch contains about 8 eggs.

Bird Notes       

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

7. Northern Shoveler Duck

Description

Large dabbling duck with the 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 their 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. They also work as a team, swimming in circles to stir up the bottom and then filter out what’s edible.

8. Blue-winged Teal Duck

Description

A small, slender duck with beautiful male breeding plumage.

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 Teal has a harsh, squeaky nasal quack while male Teal has a high-pitched whistle.

Bird Notes  

Blue-winged Teal prefers shallow marshy ponds and mudflats and like being close to edges, where they can pick out seeds and other vegetation.

 

9. Green-winged Teal Duck

Description

The smallest of the dabbling ducks 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 dark eyeliner.

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.

Diving Ducks

10. Canvasback Duck

Description

Large duck with distinctive sloping head, long, tapering black bill, red eye, and a long neck.

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 duck has a sloping head that makes it stand out among the diving ducks, with the exception of the Eiders.

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

They eat aquatic vegetation and 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.

11. Redhead Duck

Description

The Redhead duck is a beautiful, striking diving duck.

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

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

The Redhead duck 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 species like Ring-neck Duck, Lesser Scaup, Ruddy Duck, and Canvasback.

12. Ring-neck Duck

Description

A medium-sized diving duck is usually found in freshwater.

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, 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

See Birds Notes on #14 to find some tips on identifying these birds.

13. Lesser Scaup Duck

Description

Diving ducks are found on freshwater ponds and also on lakes and bays. Lesser Scaup feeds primarily on clams and other marine prey but also eats the vegetation.

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 a 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 Scaup feeds primarily on clams and other marine prey but also eats the vegetation.

Bird Notes

See Birds Notes on #14 to find some tips on identifying these birds.

14. Greater Scaup Duck

Description

Diving duck found on saltwater bays and lakes often congregates in large numbers.

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 number 13 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 a positive identification, but hopefully, our Bird Notes will help.

Bird Notes

Ring-neck Duck, Lesser Scaup, and sometimes Greater Scaup can be found on the same body of water, making the identification of each species difficult.

The male Ring-neck Duck has a black back, its bill has a black tip, and he has a white stripe between his face and his 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 a 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.

15. Goldeneye Duck

Description

Diving duck with noticeable golden eyes found on both fresh and saltwater

Male Common Goldeneye has 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 Goldeneye has 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.

16. Bufflehead Duck

Description

Small diving ducks are found in both fresh and salt water.

Male Bufflehead ducks 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

Bufflehead appears like the proverbial rubber duck, bobbing up and down on the water. Notice that when they dive, there is always a sentinel that stays on top to look for signs of danger.

17. Ruddy Duck

Description

Small, stocky, large- headed duck with a stiff, cocked-up tail.

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 the white cheek has 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.

18. Harlequin Duck

Description

Small, compact beautiful, small-billed duck that loves rocky coasts, jetties, and anywhere you can find rough, turbulent waters.

Male Harlequins stand out in the duck world – no other duck looks like them. Their bodies are slate-blue, the sides and flanks are chestnuts, and these areas are separated by white stripes. Add some white spots on the face and neck, and you have one stunning duck.

Females are brown with white spots on the face and behind the eye.

Harlequin Ducks make squeaking noises when they are together. This is why they are called is “Sea Mouse”.

Harlequin Ducks love rough water. They can be found around jetties, along rocky coasts, and on fast-moving rivers.

Bird Notes

Harlequin Ducks are often found with broken bones from being pushed around in rough waters. As evidenced by museum specimens and X-rays, many have healed fractures.

Mergansers

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

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.

19. Hooded Merganser

Description

Small Merganser with long, slender bills 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, dark gray body, and a head with ample frosted brown feathers trailing behind its head.

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 Hooded Mergansers always look like they’ve had a bad hair day, wet or dry. The female “Hoodies” are the neatest-looking of the Merganser girls.

20. Common Merganser

Description

Large Merganser with long, slender orange bills.

The males have a white body, sleek iridescent green head, and black back. They glide on the water with a clean, regal look.

Females are gray with a cinnamon head. Their head feathers form a short crest. They can have that same “bad hair day” look of all the female Mergansers, but they never seem to appear as disheveled as the Hoodies and Red-breasted do.

Bird Notes

Mergansers can have big broods, and will often adopt other chicks found without mothers. They will line up behind the mother or get up on her back for a free ride.

21. Red-breasted Merganser

Description

The largest Merganser.  Red-breasted Mergansers are also known as Sawbills.

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

Red-breasted Mergansers 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 birds with lighter bodied and. 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

22. Common Eider Duck

Description

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

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 its head.

Female Common Eiders are brown with a 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.

23. King Eider

Description

Northern visitors occasionally found 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.

Female King Eiders are similar to female Common (# 22 above), brown all over, but King Eider has 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.

24. Long-tail Duck

Description

Whether they are diving, flying, or just hanging out on the water, Long-tail Ducks always look like they are having fun.

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

The male Long-tail 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-tail Ducks are great divers and prefer mollusks and crustaceans. They are fast on the wing and fly lower than most other ducks.

Bird Notes 

Yodel-Ay-Hee-Hoo!!

Long-tail Ducks are so much fun to watch. They 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.

25. Black Scoter Duck

Description

The Black Scoter is the smallest and most compact of the Scoter family.

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

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

26. White-winged Scoter Duck

Description

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

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 Scoter is 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 Scoter is usually found in mixed rafts along with Black Scoter. 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).

27. Surf Scoter

Description

The Surf Scoter is found closest to the shore and the easiest to identify.

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 actually 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 Scoter 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 the mature adults.

Where to find Ducks in Massachusetts

Ducks are waterfowl, so the best places to find ducks in Massachusetts are on ponds, lakes, bays, and beaches. Favorite places to visit are Cape Ann, Cape Cod, along the Merrimack River, and the National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

These are the National Wildlife Refuges in Massachusetts

Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex 10 separate locations are:

• Assabet River NWR, Sudbury MA
• Great Meadows NWR, Sudbury MA
• Mashpee NWR, Mashpee MA
• Massasoit NWR, Plymouth MA
• Monomoy NWR, Chatham MA
• Nantucket NWR, Nantucket MA
• Nomans Land NWR, Martha’s Vineyard MA
• Oxbow NWR, Harvard MA
• Friends of the Silvio O. Conte NWR, Turners Falls MA
• Parker River NWR, Newbury MA

*** 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.

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

Massachusetts Audubon Society has a number of Wildlife Sanctuaries. The ones listed here have ponds and/or lakes or have access to salt water:

• Barnstable Great Marsh, Barnstable MA
• Lake Wampanoag Wildlife Sanctuary, Gardner MA
• Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Marblehead MA
• North Hill Marsh, Duxbury MA
• Skunknett River Wildlife Sanctuary, Barnstable MA
• Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary, Norfolk MA
• Watseka Wildlife Sanctuary, Hopkinton MA
• Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, South Wellfleet MA

Conclusion

For information about where to see ducks and other birds in Massachusetts, also check out the eBird app. This app has tons of information on where to find ducks. Search their Hot Spots and maps to see where the ducks are being reported in your area.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this little guide to the ducks you will find in Massachusetts. All you need to start is a decent pair of binoculars and a good location. Get out there are see all the wonderful ducks in Massachusetts.