![https://farm1.staticflickr.com/343/31993903231_be4d51ea95_b.jpg]](https://farm1.staticflickr.com/343/31993903231_be4d51ea95_b.jpg] ){kind=link}
Interesting bird. This is not a Brewer's Duck. It has a pretty straight up
wigeon bill, with lots of black around the base, which is typically more the
case with American Wigeon and much reduced to absent in Eurasians. The weak
white vertical stripe at the shoulder strongly suggest American Green-winged
Teal parentage, as no other dabbling duck shows this mark. The dark spots on
the breast and evidence of the paler cream borders around the green head stripe
also point to Green-winged Teal parentage. The head pattern could easily be
intermediate between a Green-winged Teal and Wigeon and is not at all like the
pattern shown by Brewer's Ducks, which regardless of the resulting plumage
typically show a conspicuous pale cheek patch below the head stripe (absent on
this bird). I found a Brewer's Duck at Lower Klamath NWR several years ago and
I've looked at lots of photos of them, and I've found and seen at least five
Northern Pintail X Mallard hybrids over the past decade and this bird is
unsuggestive of these crosses.
Although the appearance of this bird might outwardly be more suggestive of a
Eurasian Wigeon X American Green-winged Teal (as suggested by Craig Tumer), I
think on the basis of likely breeding ground contact, an American Wigeon X
Green-winged Teal cross would seem more plausible. It could be that the teal
traits have swamped out the wigeon traits in this cross (based on plumage)
which is odd given that the bill shows essentially no aspects that away from
wigeon.
One of the things that I've found to be interesting about Anas ducks is that
the head swoosh stripe seems to be an ancestral trait shared by all species to
some degree and it is typically fairly obvious in all Anas hybrids. Even in
species like Mallard and Gadwall, which don't have a conspicuous downward
curving post-ocular stripe, under close scrutiny you can almost always notice
an underlying diffuse stripe (often iridescent) that appears in some light.
When ducks of this genus interbreed it often pops as an obvious head marking.
In hybrids, the resulting plumages can be highly variable and don't always fit
what we might expect in terms of being intermediate.
If folks go to look at this bird, try to get some open wing photos, as wing
patterns in hybrid Anas can be quite informative. If this bird was closer to
where I live I would definitely go see it if for not other reason than to enjoy
the pure beauty of this very cool looking duck.
Dave Irons
Portland, OR
________________________________
From: obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <obol-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of Mike
Patterson <celata@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, January 5, 2017 4:24 AM
To: 'OBOL'
Subject: [obol] Re: interesting hybrid
I'm assuming you are talking about this...
https://www.flickr.com/photos/orbirdsandtrails_160/31993903231/in/album-72157678753451975/
[X]IMG_2209<https://www.flickr.com/photos/orbirdsandtrails_160/31993903231/in/album-72157678753451975/>
American x Eurasian Wigeon hybrid Seen at Grand Prairie Park - Albany, 1/4/17
[https://farm1.staticflickr.com/343/31993903231_be4d51ea95_b.jpg] ;
<https://www.flickr.com/photos/orbirdsandtrails_160/31993903231/>
[https://farm1.staticflickr.com/343/31993903231_be4d51ea95_b.jpg]
It is a Brewer's Duck which is actually a hybrid between mallard and
gadwall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewer's_Duck
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/BrewersDuck.jpg/120px-BrewersDuck.jpg]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewer's_Duck>
Brewer's Duck - Wikipedia<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewer's_Duck>
en.wikipedia.org
The Brewer's Duck, is a hybrid between a Mallard and a Gadwall. John James
Audubon painted a specimen, also referring to it as a Bemaculated Duck, a
misspelling of ...
--
Mike Patterson
Astoria, OR
That question...
http://www.surfbirds.com/community-blogs/northcoastdiaries/?p=3294
That question… | North Coast Diaries -
surfbirds.com<http://www.surfbirds.com/community-blogs/northcoastdiaries/?p=3294>
www.surfbirds.com
One of the many perks of working with the North Coast Land Conservancy is that
they let me do little personal projects on Conservancy property: a bit of bird
banding ...
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