Can anyone tell me what kind of duck this is? The GW said he thinks it's a spoonie but I just don't see it.

Blue bill hen.

definitely a spoonie

Scaup hen as Trozacky said.

GWT drake on the right.

Lesser scaup hen (blue bill). That game warden needs to learn his birds. Diver hens can be a little confusing, but a spoonie isn't even close.

Lesser scaup hen it is! Thanks guys.


I was able to figure that one on my own...barely.

Was that an internet GW?

No, he was a legit GW...nice guy. He said it was a spoonie based on the shape of the bill looking from the top.

How'd that situation play out?
Nobody knew for sure? Or did you correct him?

Some of these game wardens need to brush up on their species identification skills. Had one last year that was trying to give a guy a ticket for too many redheads at the dock. He had 2 drake redheads and 2 hen blue bills and was convinced that the blue bills were redheads until he took pictures and sent them to another warden that corrected him. We had a hen gadwall that he thought was a mallard hen too. Pretty sad

They can be tough to identify in flight. Blue bills are a little smaller and the white/off white patch near the bill is more distinct and doesnt blend in as smoothly, but when the sun catches a redhead hen right you can be thrown off. It is a lot easier to tell in-hand.

He was holding them in his hands. And yes they can be difficult to tell apart if there flying together but if your supposed to be the one enforcing the laws for fish and game harvest, I think it should be mandatory to pass an identification test. Especially if your going to be enforcing waterfowl regulations. I give the warden a little slack with the divers but how can you mix up a scaup and a shoveler. Maybe a first time duck hunter but not a warden.

Yeah, I'd be pretty miffed if the game warden couldn't tell the species in hand.

I'd give him the waterfowl ID booklet as a gift

I just, "Really?" with a bit of a doubtful tone. I had no idea so I didn't want to correct him.

sometimes game wardens are mistaken. I had one tell me today im not allowed to co mingle dead birds.

You not supposed to mix birds. On the coast the federal boys will hammer you a$$ for that !!!

weird. Ive never found that in the literature anywhere.

Had a GW ask a hunting partner who's strap had all the birds on it and he just looked at him and said "ours." GW said had anyone personally claimed the strap he'd write them a citation for every violation on it (had like 8 redheads being on the coast and all.)

I'd like to think that our game wardens can make a better guess than that.

Had a game warden in Louisiana give us crap for an hour. 3 of us had shot our limits. Don't remember every bird but do remember 6 redhead drakes, 3 can drakes, and 1 scaup hen. Think we had a pintail or two and a few wigeon.

He came to the camp just as we were finishing plucking. We always keep the head. He kept asking who shot the redhead hen. I told him nobody shot a redhead hen. He replied that he was staring at 6 drakes and 1 hen and somebody is over their limit. I kept telling him there was no redhead hen taken. They were actually grouped in bags and we were preparing our tags in the camp. So I grabbed the bag with the scaup hen and dropped my tag in it. He then threatened to give me a citation for over the limit of redheads and improper tagging. I told him to do whatever he wanted but at least let me get multiple pictures of all of the birds, because I would love to see him in court.

He had a few more words about me being a smart butt and then the biologists showed up. They would make their rounds everyday and simply ask what you shot. I handed him my bag and asked him what I had and he said, 2 Redheads, 1 Canvasback, 1 Scaup and 2 other birds. Game Warden stepped into his boat and left without uttering another word.

It amazes me that so many of them can't properly identify a bird in their hand when they are enforcing the laws. Scaup are common in the area. I would possibly understand if it were a hen oldsquaw, a hen scoter, hen goldeneye, etc. that are rarely seen in the area. I'm pretty certain he sees hen scaups on a daily basis.

Now mixing up too hen divers is somewhat understandable for new hunters, no excuse for game wardens. But there is no way anybody should ever get a diver and a puddler mixed up while dead and in their hands. The plumage and tail feathers are WAY different. And confuse a spoonie for ANYTHING else???

WOW.