The difference between a bird’s plumage during breeding season and during the rest of the year can be quite striking. This is a male Long-tailed Duck in non-breeding plumage that I photographed this past winter.
And this is a male that I photographed recently in Maine that is in its breeding plumage. We don’t often see Long-tailed Ducks in this plumage here in southern New England since they breed in the areas around the Arctic Ocean. This bird is on its way north and has switched over on the way to the nesting grounds.
Birds in My Viewfinder 