Have you seen ducks and geese lately that don’t look quite like you remembered seeing them this spring? Welcome to Bristol Bay Field Notes. I’m Andy Ramey, a Wildlife Biological Technician with the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge.

Waterfowl in North America show a wide variety of color and variation in their collective feathers or plumage. This plumage plays a vital role in the survival and success of ducks and geese throughout their lives. Feathers provide warmth and protection as well as conveying information about breeding status. The plumage displayed by waterfowl changes throughout the course of a bird’s life. The feathers are lost and replaced through a process termed a “molt.”

Newly hatched ducks and geese are first covered with a layer of natal down feathers for warmth. These feathers are quickly replaced by juvenile plumage. This plumage provides waterfowl with their first flight feathers with which these birds will eventually take to the sky. This juvenile plumage is usually a dull or mottled color, providing vulnerable young birds with camouflage against hungry predators.

Once ducks and geese reach maturity, they undergo another molt. In immature male birds, feathers are replaced by more colorful or contrasting plumage. These bright feathers convey the bird’s breeding status. Such feathers may be especially conspicuous in waterfowl during ritualized courtship displays in which male birds attempt to attract mates. Some good examples of waterfowl displaying brilliant breeding plumage can be seen in the Bristol Bay area in the late spring and summer. These examples include Harlequin Ducks, King Eiders, and Long-tailed Ducks.

After the breeding season has concluded, waterfowl undergo another molt. The bright feathers of male birds are replaced by more drab and inconspicuous ones. Some ducks and geese are even flightless for a short time during this period. At this time, male birds may be difficult to distinguish from female or even young birds of the same species. This plumage is often referred to as an eclipse or alternate plumage. In time, this plumage is again replaced through molting, returning ducks and geese to their more recognizable form.

So next time you are out hunting waterfowl, or simply watching them migrate by, see if you can recognize your web-footed friends in all of their different plumage patterns. For Field Notes, I’m Andy Ramey.