They look a lot like a small Mallard hen. The female is more brown overall, and the sides of the bill are yellow-orange. Gads swim very high in the water and fly very swiftly. Gads like freshwater lakes and quiet marshes. They are rarely seen on ocean estuaries.
Gads are shy birds and are very adapt at blending into the local aquatic vegetaion.
They are dabbling ducks, so they will be found in shallow water. There are two distinct populations of Gads. North America and the shallow lakes of the Soviet Union are home to these two populations. In North America, they breed in the prairie pot holes and spend the winters along the Gulf Coast. We are lucky in Austin to have a very large regiment of Gads during the winter months.