Opening Morning Regions 1 & 2

[303savage]

The shape of the bill I would say Hooded Merganser female

[FirePower]

The shape of the bill I would say Hooded Merganser female

As you are not obviously speaking of the snow geese I must assume you are commenting in the lone duck pictured in this thread. Honestly there is nothing to indicate merganser about it. As others have said it is a Pintail, most probably an juvenile or transitioning older drake.

[303savage]

I was commenting on Dakoda's of 1 goose and one duck, the bill on the duck looks too thin for a pintail

[Foxton Gundogs]

Definitely not a mergy bill I've seen plenty of both, it's a pinny for sure.

[wideopenthrottle]

lesser scaup or blue-bill in my books...
Key field marks in flight: Small duck with a broad white stripe on the trailing edge of the wing (scaups are the only ducks with this marking)
http://www.ducks.org/hunting/waterfo...aup#ad-image-0

second thought maybe not a blue bill.....

[Dano]

It's a pintail. Trust the guys like Foxton and I who have hunted waterfowl for decades! In flight they have a visibly longer neck and thinner head/bill. Tail come to a point and mature drake will have a long thin feather (Sprig).
You need to be able to identify puddle ducks from diving ducks. Divers (goldeneyes, buffleheads, scaup, merganser) have short and quick wing beats and usually fly close to the water. Puddle ducks like (mallards, pintail, widgeon, gadwal) have longer wing beats and generally longer bodies and wings. It takes experience to ID them quickly but if you pay attention every time you are out you'll get better at it.
Protected birds like Grebes, loons and swans need to be identified ASAP so they won't be mistakenly shot. Study your bird identification booklets and remember the key points to ensure you don't make a mistake. If you're not sure, don't shoot!

[fowl language]

thank you dano, I find it hard to believe that so many are not good at indentifying birds in flight. makes me wonder how many none legal birds got shot

[scretch]

I also find it hard to believe that some hunters do not EAT what they shoot.

[Foxton Gundogs]

I also find it hard to believe that some hunters do not EAT what they shoot.

I think USE would be a better term than EAT. I shoot the odd limit of mergansers at a friends trout pond to use for training birds. I save a few fish for him and end up with ducks to use for training without sufficing good eating birds to use for dog training, win/win