I copied this from another forum and thought it might interest some here.....it stimulated quite a discussion as to several other species thought to currently be "native" by virtue of year-round residence in N.A. I count 20 duck and 2 goose species that I've killed thus far...I'm sure most of you have killed more.


This list is compiled of birds that are native to N.A. and are legally allowed to be hunted during the 2010 hunting season throughout the U.S. and Canada. There are many subspecies of these birds, but at this time this is the most up-to-date species list.

DUCKS - 32 (Huntable Species)

American Black Duck - Anas rubripes
American Wigeon - Anas americana
Barrow's Goldeneye - Bucephala islandica
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - Dendrocygna autumnalis
Black Scoter - Melanitta nigra
Blue-winged Teal - Anas discors
Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola
Canvasback - Aythya valisineria
Cinnamon Teal - Anas cyanoptera
Common Eider - Somateria mollissima
Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula
Common Merganser - Mergus merganser
Fulvous Whistling-Duck - Dendrocygna bicolor
Gadwall - Anas strepera
Greater Scaup - Aythya marila
Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca
Harlequin Duck - Histrionicus histrionicus
Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus
King Eider - Somateria spectabilis
Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis
Long-tailed Duck - Clangula hyemalis
Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos
Mottled Duck - Anas fulvigula
Northern Shoveler - Anas clypeata
Northern Pintail - Anas acuta
Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator
Redhead - Aythya americana
Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris
Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis
Surf Scoter - Melanitta perspicillata
White-winged Scoter - Melanitta fusca
Wood Duck - Aix sponsa



GEESE - 6 (Huntable Species)

Greater White-fronted Goose - Anser albifrons
Snow Goose - Chen caerulescens
Ross's Goose - Chen rossii
Canada Goose - Branta canadensis
Cackling Goose - Branta Hutchinsii
Brant - Branta bernicla

OTHER WATERFOWL- 2 (Huntable Species)

Sandhill Crane - Grus canadensis
Tundra Swan - Cygnus columbianus

Why is the morning dove (Zenaida macroura) not on the list? They're certainly native.

quote:

Originally posted by onefunzr2:
Why is the morning dove (Zenaida macroura) not on the list? They're certainly native.

Last time I checked, doves weren't considered waterfowl.

I need to change the title of the thread I guess....

@Norton,
I created that list a while back and I have openly shared it with everyone. Good to see it is being used by fellow waterfowlers beyond the Refuge and WT Forums.



@onefunzr2
The list that Norton posted consists of "huntable" waterfowl (Ducks, geese, swan) and the crane. Now one could question why certain birds are not there, say for example Eurasian Wigeon, Tufted Duck, Turtle Dove. Well there are even more birds that are vagrants or visitors (Masked Duck). So the criteria I set was that :
- bird species must have a huntable population
- bird must nest and raise young in the North American continent
- must have mention in the USF&W hunting regulations in one of the North American states



Here is the updated list of 74 "huntable" species of NA.

74 Species Total

DUCKS (32)
1) Mallard
2) American Black Duck
3) Northern Pintail
4) Gadwall
5) American Wigeon
6) Wood Duck
7) Blue-Winged Teal
8) Green-Winged Teal
9) Cinnamon Teal
10) Northern Shoveler
11) Mottled Duck
12) Fulvous Whistling Duck
13) Black-Bellied Whistling Duck
14) Canvasback
15) Redhead
16) Lesser Scaup
17) Greater Scaup
18) Ring-Necked Duck
19) Common Goldeneye
20) Barrow's Goldeneye
21) Bufflehead
22) Ruddy Duck
23) Common Merganser
24) Red-Breasted Merganser
25) Hooded Merganser
26) White-Winged Scoter
27) Surf Scoter
28) Black Scoter
29) Common Eider
30) King Eider
31) Long-tailed Duck
32) Harlequin

GEESE (6)
33) Canada Goose
34) Cackling Goose
35) Snow Goose
36) Greater White-Fronted Goose
37) Ross Goose
38) Brant

SWAN (1)
39) Tundra Swan

TURKEY (2)
40) Wild Turkey (Eastern, Osceola, Rio Grande, Merriam, Gould are all sub-species)
41) Ocellated Turkey

PHEASANT (1)
42) Ring-Necked Pheasant

PARTRIDGE (2)
43) Chukar Partridge
44) Hungarian Partridge

GROUSE (6)
45) Ruffed Grouse
46) Sharp-Tailed Grouse
47) Prairie Chicken
48) Sage Grouse
49) Blue Grouse
50) Spruce Grouse

PTARMIGAN (3)
51) Willow Ptarmigan
52) Rock Ptarmigan
53) White-Tailed Ptarmigan

QUAIL (6)
54) Bobwhite Quail
55) California Quail
56) Gambel's Quail
57) Scaled Quail
58) Mearn's Quail
59) Mountain Quail

MIGRATORY UPLAND (6)
60) Woodcock
61) Common Snipe
62) Mourning Dove
63) White-Winged Dove
64) White-Tipped Dove
65) Band-Tailed Pigeon

MARSH (3)
66) American Coot
67) Common Moorhen
68) Purple Gallinule

RAIL (4)
69) Sora
70) Clapper Rail
71) King Rail
72) Virginia Rail

CRANE (1)
73) Sandhill Crane

SPECIAL INTRODUCED (1)
74) Himalayan Snowcock



Sub-species have been excluded from this list, so say for example Pacific Eider is accounted for in the "Common Eider".

If anyone has any suggestions to add a certain bird please share your thoughts.

collector beat me to it on mentioning the Tufted Duck, but I saw someone kill one a very long time ago. No one knew what it was. I looked it up afterwards. The name was Eurasian Tufted Duck and it was a large duck that looked about like a mallard except it was a uniform reddish/brown in color. Not particularly attractive. I never saw another one.

So it's not what I'd call "huntable" but I don't know about "native" unless native to Alaska. It probably depends on how "native" is defined.

As for the Snipe, I used to hunt those in Arkansas at duck clubs. They flew over and buzzed around flooded rice fields and also seemed fond of mud flats. They have a distinctive call.

I'm just going from memory here, but at the time I was told we had more than one species of Snipe but that only one was edible. The fellow I hunted with seemed to know the difference. They were very sporty wingshooting. It would have been perfect for all those here who favor the 28 gauge, only at the time we had 12 gauge long range duck guns.

I manage to shoot a couple of snipe every year I think that they are called Wilson's snipe. I always thought prairie chickens and sage grouse were the same thing.

@Shack,
Tufted Duck is about the size of a Lesser Scaup. They are all in the Pochard family although Tufted Duck numbers are much much higher worldwide than both of the Scaups combined (Lesser Scaup and Greater Scaup). Here is the drake, name comes from the little "Tuft" on the back of their head.



@wetdog2084
SNIPES - People interchange the name Snipe and Wilson's Snipe thinking it is the same species. They are actually two distinct species.

Common Snipe - Latin Name - Gallinago gallinago
Wilson's Snipe - Latin Name - Gallinago delicata

Both have different color markings and different number of tail feathers.


GROUSE:
Lots of local names for different species. I hunted ruffed grouse in Ontario once and they called the Ruffed as well as the Spruce grouse "Ditch Chickens".

So here are the two grouse you mentioned in your post, they are two totally different species.

Sage Grouse.




And here is the Prairie Chicken.

There are two main sub-species of the Prairie Chicken (Greater and Lesser) and then there is even further sub-classification to those two sub-species.

Numerous exotic waterfowl have escaped or have been introduced into the US. With or without Federal/State approval, most notible the Mandarin duck which is becoming common in parts of California. The problem is, they will interbreed with our native Wood Duck. We shot an Indian Black Indies one morning in east TN some 30 years ago?!?! I put an X in front of each native bird I've taken here in Tennessee, including 2 species of "sea duck" and added the Greater Snow Goose to your goose list. Thanks for posting Norton, fun idea!
David

quote:

DUCKS - 32 (Huntable Species)

X American Black Duck - Anas rubripes
X American Widgeon - Anas americana
Barrow's Goldeneye - Bucephala islandica
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck - autumnali
Black Scoter - Melanitta nigra
X Blue-winged Teal - Anas discors
X Bufflehead - Bucephala albeola
X Canvasback - Aythya valisineria
Cinnamon Teal - Anas cyanoptera
Common Eider - Somateria mollissima
X Common Goldeneye - Bucephala clangula
X Common Merganser - Mergus merganser
Fulvous Whistling-Duck - Dendrocygna bicolor
X Gadwall - Anas strepera
X Greater Scaup - Aythya marila
X Green-winged Teal - Anas crecca
Harlequin Duck - Histrionicus histrionicus
X Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus
King Eider - Somateria spectabilis
X Lesser Scaup - Aythya affinis
X Long-tailed Duck -Clangula hyemalis(old squaw)
X Mallard - Anas platyrhynchos
Mottled Duck - Anas fulvigula
X Northern Shoveler - Anas clypeata
X Northern Pintail - Anas acuta
Red-breasted Merganser - Mergus serrator
X Redhead - Aythya americana
X Ring-necked Duck - Aythya collaris
X Ruddy Duck - Oxyura jamaicensis
Surf Scoter - Melanitta perspicillata
X White-winged Scoter - Melanitta fusca
X Wood Duck - Aix sponsa

GEESE - 6 (Huntable Species)

X Greater White-fronted Goose - Anser albifrons
XXX Snow Goose - Chen caerulescens (Greater, Lesser and Lesser "Blue" phase)
XX Ross's Goose - Chen rossii (Ross & hybred "blue" Ross)
X Canada Goose - Branta canadensis (Several subspecies)
Cackling Goose - Branta Hutchinsii
Brant - Branta bernicla

OTHER WATERFOWL- 2 (Huntable Species)

X Sandhill Crane - Grus canadensis
X Tundra Swan - Cygnus columbianus

African species I've taken:
Duck:
X Yellowbill Duck
X Knob bill Duck
X African Cape Shelduck

Geese:
X Spurwing Goose
X Egyptian Goose

quote:

Originally posted by collector:

@wetdog2084
SNIPES - People interchange the name Snipe and Wilson's Snipe thinking it is the same species. They are actually two distinct species.

Common Snipe - Latin Name - Gallinago gallinago
Wilson's Snipe - Latin Name - Gallinago delicata

Both have different color markings and different number of tail feathers.


GROUSE:
Lots of local names for different species. I hunted ruffed grouse in Ontario once and they called the Ruffed as well as the Spruce grouse "Ditch Chickens".

So here are the two grouse you mentioned in your post, they are two totally different species.

Sage Grouse.




And here is the Prairie Chicken.

There are two main sub-species of the Prairie Chicken (Greater and Lesser) and then there is even further sub-classification to those two sub-species.

Thanks for the post I've always assumed that they were the same bird. I've shot a few sage hens but as far as I can remember I've never seen a prairie chicken. What is their range? I've only bird hunted MT, ND, SD, MN, TX, AZ (doves and quail in TX and AZ) so there is a lot that I haven't seen.
Ditch Chickens is funny, I can see how they got the name 98% of them are killed in the ditch around here. Spruce grouse are known as Franklin grouse here
A lot of locals in eastern MT call sage grouse bombers, big and slow.
Do you have any pics of the two different snipe, I'm fairly sure I've been shooting Wilson,s snipe but I could be wrong. There are quite a few around early in the season and I take them when the opportunity presents it's self.
Thanks for the education.

On the grouse, I've been led to believe that S. Dakota's sharptail grouse and prairie chicken are the same bird. When I was looking into hunting S. Dakota I was told that by someone with the state wildlife agency.

It's not widely known, but my favorite duck state of Arkansas used to have large amounts of prairie chicken in the same areas now known for ducks. But that was way before modern times. They had actual prairies back then.

As I recall the local common name for the type of snipe favored for eating was simply "Jack Snipe" (whatever that means).

Btw, the tufted duck I spoke of didn't look like the one pictured and I believe it was larger.

@wetdog2084
Here is the range map for Greater Prairie Chicken
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/b...6/map617/ra3050.html

@Shack
South Dakota has Sharptail grouse in good numbers. It is quite possible they use the name, but, Prairie Chicken is a completely different species from a Sharptail Grouse.

Further clarification on Snipe species. A "Jack Snipe" is also a totally different species from "Common Snipe" and "Wilson's Snipe". Latin name for Jack Snipe is "Lymnocryptes minimus" and it is a bit smaller in size than a Common Snipe.

Tufted Duck - That is why I posted the picture. They are not the same size as the mallard. Only the size of the lesser scaup. If you can find a picture of the bird maybe I can help ID it for you.

I identified the Tufted Duck from the "Audubon Society Field Guide To North American Birds". It appeared to be the female. It says it's 17" and a "casual" in N.A., and when found it's mainly in areas far removed from the flooded rice fields of Arkansas. The size puts it a little less than a gadwall. I have one of those mounted and as I recall the tufted specimen was about the same.

The same book says the Common Snipe was formerly known as the Wilson's Snipe. The Jack Snipe they class as a European accidental. That makes it kind of interesting, as at the time there were (I was told) two kinds of snipe we were seeing. I believe now it must have been the Common Snipe that was recommended for table fare instead of the Jack Snipe. Anyhow, the hunting partner who explained it all to me then is now unfortunately long gone. He was a heck of a guy..not that it matters here.

Btw, we weren't getting either kind confused with Killdeer, the non-game shorebird we routinely see while duck hunting. They frequent the same places as snipe, fly somewhat similarly and have a call that's not that far removed from them.

There is actually one species of duck missing, The mexican Mallard which lives in mexico and some southern US states, We shoot a bunch of them back home.......

Collector,

You continue poisoning my soul with all those beatiful birds and knowledge about them....

Or I give big game hunting a break or I must quit visiting this bird forum !!!

Yesterday for first time in YEARS I went to a gunshop just to look at shotguns !!

Thanks for sharing those beatiful mounts.

L

@ Lorenzo
I am so glad that the Bird Forum has finally corrupted you

@Shack
Female...ok yes that would be brown, some females of tufted have a variant where they have white around their beak (some not) and then some have white under the tail (some not). I hammered them pretty good in Iceland, will try to find some pics of female Tufted ducks that I shot there.

So here is the Sharptail Grouse....totally different than a Prairie Chicken. It is just that local names tend to be very different from one part of the country to the other.


@Patricio Gaudiano
The list that Norton posted consists of "Full Species" and not sub-species. Mexican Mallard is a sub-species of the Mallard and is not considered a full species. Here is a Mexican Mallard drake that I shot in the Sinaloa province of Mexico.

Latin Names:
MALLARD - Anas platyrhynchos
MEXICAN DUCK - Anas platyrhynchos diazi

So not a full species. Now if some biologist was working on a PhD he may want to consider it a full species (some PhD bilogists are full of egos) and may produce some genetic data that this is indeed a full species. I have had multiple encounters with these guys....hell bent on declaring a certain bird into full species. By doing this they get their names in the book and possibly a woody in their pants. I try not to argue with the types

I don't recall any white on that Tufted Duck. As best I can remember the coloring had a bit of red to it - kind of reddish brown. And one other thing I remember - it wasn't easy to kill. It was a real tough, sinewy bird that wound up getting shot two or three times and was still alive. In 40 some odd yrs of duck hunting I never ran across another.

Anyway, this thread seems as good a place as any to ask for some opinions from those here on something.

Generally speaking it's been my impression over my waterfowling and upland bird career that the further back you go the more variety or different kinds of species including those mentioned here one saw.

Does that theory have anything to it?

Hey Shack,

It ain't theory, its fact! Practically every field on the Grand Prairie is precision levelled eliminating the micro topography of small puddles and such that concentrate invertebrates. The fields are drained after duck season is over and if it stays dry the ground will often be worked up as is happening right now where I live in South Arkansas. I suspect its happening everywhere it can be done. Precision levelling is the death of plant and animal diversity on ag lands.

When I was growing up in Pine Bluff, we had all the puddles and enormous quantities of waste grain throughout the Delta. We always had ducks with the first little cool snap in mid to late October - cold or not. And scads of shorebirds in the spring.

In the sixties, I can remember seeing snipe everyday by the thousands when we were walking out from duck hunting. A guy saw 300 on the refuge I manage the other day and was astounded by such a large number. He could not believe it when I told him we used to see them in tornado like swarms just off of Hwy 79 between Pine Bluff and Stuttgart back then. Saw many ducks there too and now you drive from Stuttgart to Pine Bluff and see a handful of shovellers and a few teal if you are lucky. Hardly any mallards or pintails.

Duck hunting has turned into a fad some years back and the hunting pressure keeps them driven out of the state along with a number of other factors.

With all the water, we had a fair number in the state this year. I think the White and Cache River bottoms robbed them from the Prairie and Bayou Meto area. That is the normal pattern. We had a good many down at Overflow at certain times where we manage for a diverse array of plant and invertebrate foods for the feathered critters. Merg

I lived in PB too, but only for a brief time in the 60s. During the 80s and 90s I hunted regularly at one of the best clubs in Stuttgart. It eventually got sold out from under me and I landed at a club up at Waldenburg which turned out to be far better hunting. Northeast Arkansas is really just as good if not better than the Stuttgart area for ducks IMO. At other times I was in clubs on the St. Francis River, St. Francis Back-Bay Floodway, Black River, Bayou DeView, L'Anguille River, Cache River, Miss. River and up at Fair Oaks, Walnut Ridge, and other places I can't remember. Some I'm not sure had names. Also hunted a lot at Reelfoot and other spots in TN.

In my opinion it's gotten way too commercial to be either practical or fun. The numbers of people and the escalating amounts they (many of whom are from far out of state and get involved off the internet) have been willing to pay is IMO ruining it.

I too remember the big flocks of all kinds of birds and waterfowl. But then, what I remember is nothing compared to the stories I used to hear from much older guys who hunted way back before that.

I didn't go this year but I imagine January was pretty good considering the weather.

What kind of place is it that you manage?

I have heard from biologists both ways about the mexican duck being a subspecies, even thought they are completely different populations and the Mexican duck does not migrate north in the spring and since the 2 populations do not intermix(typically) here are a few I shot.....
[/IMG]

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/Picture_18.png
[/IMG]

@Patricio Gaudiano,
Wow, that is a beautiful location to hunt ducks. Looks like you piled them up that day. Nicely done.

Some ducks are sedentary and do not migrate at all. So a unique distinct population that does not migrate does not qualify them as a separate species. There is a Common Eider sub-species called the Hudson Bay Eider, its behavior is very similar to the Mexican Duck that it does not migrate. Some biologists want to declare it a separate species but so far they have been unsuccessful.

@collector

Thanks, thats my place close to mexico city, that is actually a pretty average hunt....

On another note those mexican ducks loooove mojos and mallard calls, and decoy very well..... they are a blast to shoot....

if you consider "native waterfowl"as those which live and breed in the wild without the husbandry of man, then you need to add the Egyptian Goose to your list of native American waterfowl.

Parts of the North Umqua, South Umpqua, and main-stem Umpqua rivers in Oregon are full of them year-around.

There is no season or bag limit on them, as the ODFW (Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife) considers them "vermin". Though perfectly legal to shoot, I have never to my knowledge known anyone who shot one. We have them living/breeding within 200 yards of our house here on the North Umpqua. There is so much "wild" food for them locally they do not migrate seasonally.

Some 30 or 40 years ago they were brought into this area by a non-profit wildlife park (not a "zoo") called Wildlife Safari, where animals such as lions, elephant, rhino, giraffe, zebra, leopards, cheetahs, grizzly bears, etc., live outside (not in cages) on 600 acres of land...almost 1 square mile). There ARE very high and secure fences surrounding and subdividing some parts of the park.

Vehicles and visitors are permitted entry for a small fee, and visitors can drive pretty much where they want on gravel roads...no guides supplied or required.. Geese, of course, are not much restrained by fences.

The park does have watchtowers, particularly in the areas the lions frequent, just because some people are so damned stupid they will drive in there, open their doors and get their little kids out of the car to take pictures of the big cats. VERY LOUD loudspeakers soon get them back into their vehicles and they are usually then pounced on by security and escorted off the premises with instructions to not come back. Of course their names and license plate numbers are recorded too.

[I remember well the first time my wife and I were driving along a narrow gravel road in the park which led up a fairly steep rise. About half way up we met a rhino coming down the road. We were in a little 1984 Mitsubishi Tredia 4-door sedan. I'll tell you, it is impressive to meet an animal about the same length and width of your car, but taller and likely heavier, at a distance of two or 3 feet!

He walked by, looked at me eye-to-eye through the driver's window briefly, snorted, then went his way and we went ours. Awesome!]