Eclipse Plumage Drake Blue Wing Teal, Wisconsin

How many times have you heard Jeff from Bird Zone Taxidermy say, "Hunt late and Shoot straight"? Well, something to watch for this season during your earlier hunts is an eclipse plumage drake Blue Wing Teal. They have the right conditions and simple beauty to make great mounts. The males especially have a darker appearance, with the same vibrant wing color, minus the blue face. We noticed in the 2019 season on our own property, many of these drakes had very little pin feathers. We take what we can get in our state, as typically even late season ducks in Wisconsin can be riddled with pins. A pretty little eclipse drake makes a fantastic mount! They almost resemble tiny little black ducks with a different wing coloring. A customer in our shop once pointed that out to me and I had to agree! We have one mounted in our showroom in Ripon, Wisconsin if you would like to see one up close and under glass! Keep your eyes peeled for these birds in your early teal hunts, check them for pin feathers and you might just get lucky!

Photo Credits go to, Martin from DUCK COMMANDER, they have a great YouTube video of this here ->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G06ee7RUN8E&t=1s

Photo 1: Eclipse Drake BWT

Photo 2: Hen

Photo 3: Side by side comparison