Duck ID

Just wondering if anyone can tell me what the duck next to the hen buffle is. Basically no color on it besides the white around the head area. Thanks in advance.

Yea it's definitely a Harlequin after comparing pictures. Thanks for all the suggestion though. I didn't even consider that to be an option due tho them being coastal ducks. Can't say how it tasted because it was thrown into a fresh batch of duck gumbo for dinner tonight. I shot it on pool 9 on the Mississippi. As a group we shot 6 Harlequins and 4 buffles. Pretty cool, I have heard of a few shot on Lake Michigan but didn't know they used the Mississippi to winter. Maybe the hurricane had something to do with it.

Where was it shot? It is a hen harlequin. Just like the ruddy, they both are stiff-tail ducks. Pretty cool bird, and one of the most drab birds, especially comparing them to their male counterpart which is one of the prettiest birds in my opinion.

This would be a hen ruddy

Its a hen harli ruddys are much smaller like the buffie

Boy did the hens get the shaft on color for that species or what? Cool duck....how'd it taste?

I shot a hen white winged scoter that was about the same size proportions to a bufflehead as your image...

Doesn't look like anything but a hen harli. Def not a ruddy and coots look the same weather male or female, young or old.

X2 for it being a hen harli.

immature ruddy (hen)

If it had a pointed beak my guess would be a premature hen coot. Because the bird is lacking the beak my guess is some type of hybrid. Did it have webbed feet or were there individual toes? It has the color as well as the foot color.