Coastal Carolina

Cygnus columbianus HOW TO IDENTIFY: * Length: 36 inches Wingspan: 85 inches * Large, long-necked waterbird with short legs and a short duck-like bill * Long neck held straight up with a kink at base Adult: * Black bill with variably-sized yellow spot at base * Culmen somewhat concave * Black of bill extends up to eye but does not encircle it * Straight demarcation on forehead between black bill and white feathering * Black legs and feet * Entirely white plumage * Sexes similar Immature: * We are still arguing about this section! Check back later. * Body grayer than adult Similar species: The very large Tundra Swan is unlikely to be confused with anything but other swans. White Pelicans, Whooping Cranes, Wood Storks, and Snow Geese are all white birds that from a great distance could look like swans but all have black primaries. The adult Mute Swan can be told from the adult Tundra Swan by its orange and black knobby bill. The adult Trumpeter Swan is very similar to the adult Tundra Swan but it is slightly larger, has a straight culmen, the bill has no yellow spot, the eye is enclosed by black, and the white feathering on the head extends in a v shape into the dark bill. In the far northwest, a subspecies of the Tundra Swan shows more yellow at the base of the bill and could be confused with the Alaskan Whooper Swan. The Whooper Swan has yellow in the bill that goes beyond the nostril.

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Melanitta fusca HOW TO IDENTIFY: * Length: 16 inches Wingspan: 38 inches * Medium-sized diving duck * Large white speculum sometimes visible at rest * Sloping forehead * Base of bill partly feathered Adult male: * Entirely black plumage * Small white patch around eye * Black bill with a red tip * Immature male similar to female Adult female: * Two variably white spots on face * Very dark plumage * Immature females somewhat paler Similar species: The White-winged Scoter is most distinctive in flight. Its large white wing patches and dark plumage are diagnostic. At rest, the dark plumage is similar to other scoters; sometimes, the white wing patches are visible. Adult male White-winged Scoters have a distinctive white patch around the eye. Female Black Scoters have darker crowns with a contrasting paler face, lack the white spots on the face, and have rounder heads. Female Surf Scoters are very similar to female White-winged Scoters but have darker crowns and more obvious bills.

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Aix sponsa HOW TO IDENTIFY: * Length: 13.5 inches Wingspan: 28 inches * A medium-sized duck with a long crest on head * Long-winged and long-tailed * Blue-green speculum with white rear border Adult male alternate: * Alternate plumage worn from Fall-through early summer * Red bill * Red eye * Green head * Striking white stripes about face and crest with a large white throat patch and "fingerlike" extensions onto cheek and neck * Chestnut breast and neck with vertical white stripe at lower margin * Golden flanks bordered above by a white flank stripe * White belly * Iridescent dark green-blue back and wings Adult male basic: * In basic plumage, the male resembles the female, but often retains the distinctive neck patch and red bill Adult female: * Gray bill * White teardrop shaped patch around eye * White throat * Gray-brown head and neck * Gray-brown breast stippled with white and fading to a white belly * Dark brown back Juvenal plumage: * Gray bill * Female similar to adult female * Males similar to adult females, but with white neck patch Similar species: Adult male is unmistakable. Female, immature and eclipse males are nondescript, but distinctive in face pattern, shape and speculum pattern.

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