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Speculum feathers
The
speculum
feathers are the inner (secondary) flight feathers of a
duck
. They are often brightly coloured, especially in dabbling ducks, and can help to identify a duck in flight.
Examples are:
Common Teal
: green
Green-winged Teal
: green
Blue-winged Teal
: blue
Mallard
: purple-blue edged white
American Black Duck
: purple-blue ( not edged white)
Northern Pintail
: greenish black, edged white at back and orange in front
Gadwall
: small and white, but only obvious in male
Yellow-billed Duck
: green or blue, bordered white