Thanks Craig, Hendrik and Mike for your information. The bird I saw
certainly does look like
the Eurasian Wigeon x Green-winged Teal photos you linked, Hendrik!
Pam :-)
On Wed, Jan 4, 2017 at 9:18 PM, Hendrik Herlyn <hhactitis@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello all,
I respectfully disagree with Mike's assessment. All Brewer's Duck photos I
have found online (including the one Mike posted and Audubon's "Bemaculated
Duck") show a bill shape that more closely resembles a Mallard or Gadwall
bill, while Pam's bird, as Lars pointed out, has a typical wigeon bill.
There is usually some yellow on the bill of a Brewer's Duck. Also, the
cheek patch tends to be more tannish in color, and the green eye patch is
usually less clearly defined than in Pam's bird, plus Brewer's usually do
not show this amount of fine vermiculation on the sides..
I am not convinced that the bird is a pure Eurasian Wigeon variant, though
- among other things, I am perturbed by the total lack of a yellow or tan
forehead.
When googling wigeon x Green-winged Teal hybrids, I came up with this
image (a presumed American Wigeon x Green-winged Teal hybrid), which is
almost a dead ringer for Pam's bird:
http://birdhybrids.blogspot.com/2014/03/american-wigeon-x-
green-winged-teal.html
A Eurasian Wigeon x Green-winged (Eurasian) Teal apparently creates a very
similar offspring:
http://birdhybrids.blogspot.com/2015/12/eurasian-wigeon-x-
eurasian-teal.html
Certainly an interesting and very beautiful duck - thanks, Pam, for
bringing this to our attention!
Happy January birding
Hendrik
On Wed, Jan 4, 2017 at 8:24 PM, Mike Patterson <celata@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
I'm assuming you are talking about this...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/orbirdsandtrails_160/319939032
31/in/album-72157678753451975/
It is a Brewer's Duck which is actually a hybrid between mallard and
gadwall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewer's_Duck
--
Mike Patterson
Astoria, OR
That question...
http://www.surfbirds.com/community-blogs/northcoastdiaries/?p=3294
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__________________________
Hendrik G. Herlyn
Corvallis, OR
*"Nature is not a place to visit. It is home." -- Gary Snyder*
