Bufflehead ducks are some of the best ducks to eat. These ducks are great treats for meat lovers. You can wrap a bufflehead duck in bacon, grill, or fly the duck. These ducks’ meats are rich in protein, and they taste pretty great. You can marinate the meat in orange juice, vinegar, or beer for a more authentic taste.
Are Bufflehead Ducks Safe to Eat?
Yes, bufflehead ducks are pretty safe to eat. Thus you can safely eat a bufflehead duck with no safety concerns. You need to take a little bit of preparation to make tasty meat from these ducks.
Is It Legal to Eat Bufflehead Ducks?
Yes, it is legal to eat bufflehead ducks in many places throughout the country. You can hunt them in water bodies such as rivers, dams, and lakes. Nonetheless, these ducks are pretty elusive, and they are excellent divers. Thus, you need to shoot the ducks at close range and ensure they don’t notice you trying to shoot them.
What do Bufflehead Ducks Eat?
Bufflehead ducks usually forage for food underwater. The diet of these wild ducks varies with habitat and season. In summer, they feed on aquatic insects. In winter, they eat molluscs, particularly snails. The favorite diet for bufflehead ducks living in the ocean consists of crustaceans.
How do Bufflehead Ducks Taste?
Bufflehead ducks taste like other ducks. However, they have a more authentic taste depending on their habitat. Bufflehead ducks that forage for food in oceans taste pretty much like seafood. Ducks that live in rivers taste like summer sausage, and their meat is quite tender.
Are Bufflehead Duck Eggs Good to Eat?
Yes, the eggs of these ducks are a great source of nutrition. Their eggs have a dark yellow yolk, showing that eggs have more antioxidants than chickens’ eggs. Furthermore, these eggs have plenty of omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin A than chickens’ eggs (source).
You can get more proteins in these eggs compared to chickens’ eggs. Below are the health benefits of consuming bufflehead duck eggs.
– Build Muscle
Bufflehead duck eggs have plenty of protein. The protein in these eggs can enable you to build lean muscle. Moreover, the protein present in these eggs can also help you retain a healthy body weight and heal from injuries. (source)
– Support Mental Health
Deficiencies in selenium, magnesium, and zinc can lead to fatigue and depression. Eggs from bufflehead ducks contain these three essential minerals. A single egg from these birds contains more selenium than chickens’ eggs.
– Enhance Skin Health
Recent studies show that the B vitamins in bufflehead duck eggs can help enhance skin health. These eggs contain up to eight types of B vitamins. For instance, these eggs have plenty of vitamin B, which helps combat stress and depression. Vitamin B7 helps protect your skin from infections and also helps your skin retain moisture.
What Other Wild Ducks Are Good to Eat?
Various wild duck species are healthy and safe for consumption apart from bufflehead ducks. Check these types of wild ducks you can add to your menu.
– Scaup
Scaup is among the fast-flying wild ducks. Scaups have delicious white meat that doesn’t contain fat like in captive ducks. They are tricky birds to hunt, and you need excellent preparation to shoot these wild birds. Nonetheless, you can’t miss shooting one bird while these ducks are foraging in a flock.
– The Northern Shoveler
The Northern Shovelers are also fast, although not like scaups. They frequent rice fields where they flock in large numbers foraging for insects. These birds are enormous than most wild ducks. Their meat is also tender, and it has a distinct flavor.
– Coot Duck
Coot is a rare wild duck that inhabits marshes. This average-sized duck also has excellent meat, although it can be fatty depending on its diet. The gizzard from this duck is remarkably delicious. This duck has a lively taste and makes an excellent treat if you grill or deep fry the meat.
– Blue-winged Teal
Blue-winged teals are sporty birds to hunt. These wild ducks are nonetheless smaller than most wild duck species. Their meat is also tender, although some people complain that their meat is musty and earthy. It helps to marinate the meat first to give it a more lively and delicious taste.
– Ring-Necked Ducks
Ring-necked ducks are beautiful animals found in North America. They have a distinctive crest of feathers on the back of their neck, and they are typically gray in color with a white ring around their neck. Adults often have red eyes.
Ring-necked ducks are omnivores and will eat mostly plants, insects, seeds, and algae, but they are known to eat fish too. These ducks are very delicious and are easy to prepare.
– Canvasback
This wild duck looks like scaup, although more extensive. The duck also has a dark and coarse appearance. This giant and fast-flying duck makes excellent meat. Its eggs are also twice bigger than a chickens’ eggs. Thus, you can get plenty of nutrition from its eggs.
– Gadwall
Bird enthusiasts consider this wild duck as a grilling duck. The only downside with this wild duck is that it forages insects on sewerage ponds. This duck nonetheless has excellent meat if you don’t mind hunting the duck in sewerage ponds. Due to its tender meat, this wild duck is suitable for grilling.
– Mallard
Mallard is perhaps many people’s favorite wild ducks since it has a considerable amount of quality meat. Although the meat from this duck requires a bit of preparation, you can cut its breast into two portions and then put these portions in saltwater brine.
Its meat has a coarse texture with a somewhat gamey taste. Mallard makes excellent meat if you fry or grill it properly.
– Pintail
This wild duck inhabits woods. It appears pretty much similar to a mallard, although the duck is much smaller in size. It makes a great grill, and its meat doesn’t require plenty of preparation. The meat has a slightly gamey taste, although tender and juicy.
– Wood Duck
Wood ducks are perhaps the most common wild ducks. The flavor of the meat from these ducks is tasty and juicy. You can prepare the meat in any way, either grilling or deep frying. Furthermore, you can make the meat more flavorful if you wrap it in bacon.
Conclusion
Bufflehead ducks are some of the best wild ducks to eat. The birds’ meat has a pleasant taste, while their eggs can supply you with plenty of essential nutrients, including vitamins and protein. Consider hunting Bufflehead ducks if you are a duck meat lover.
