Distinguishing age classes

In the duck world we think of 4 cohorts – males/females and hatch year (young) & after hatch year (older) birds.

An easy way to split age groups is by looking at tail feathers. Young birds have notched tail feathers in the fall; adults have pointed tails.

Ducklings the hatch with downy tail feathers, but that downy feather breaks off the center feather shaft as the next feather grows in – so each tail feather has a tiny notch at the tip (bottom tail).

Adult tail feathers are sharply pointed – no notches (top tail).

So now you can impress your teal hunting partners by aging and sexing your teal bag.