Tristen Hynes, Matthew Schneider and I saw this bird in January. We thought
hybrid because of the infusion of color into the gray sides as well as the mush
of a face pattern.
.
.
Alan Contreras
acontrer56@xxxxxxxxx
Eugene, Oregon
On Feb 8, 2016, at 8:51 AM, whoffman@xxxxxxxx wrote:
Hi -
Here is the odd wigeon from Grand Prairie Park in Albany.
I suppose it is a hybrid, but it does not seem quite as intermediate as they
usually do. In working up the photo (cropped, brightened, and resized) I
noticed some black along the margin between bill and facial feathering, which
suggests some American ancestry. BTW this is a very useful feature for
distinguishing females, but seems to be consistent in drakes as well.
Wayne
<wigeon3916.jpg>
