Bob not Bon - my apologies! :)
Ed Williams
On 04/05/2012, at 11:20 AM, "Ed Williams" <> wrote:
> Cheers Bon for your thorough and well written reply.
>
> Perhaps my monitor is misaligned as the eyes genuinely do look red to me...
> (I can check on my iPad later to compare colours)
>
> Also, I should have added that I am from the UK so have seen many a pintail
> in the past and the eyes have always looked brown in the field to me.
>
> Anyway it is a strange bird so David was right to post it - and it is always
> good for these ID debates.
>
> Wishing everyone a great weekend,
>
> Ed
>
>
> Ed Williams
> Kingsville VIC
>
> On 04/05/2012, at 10:31 AM, "Robert Inglis" <> wrote:
>
>> Ed, one of the things which caused me to pull back a little from my initial
>> ID of Grey Teal was the iris colour. As I see the irises of the birds in
>> David's images they don't look anywhere near the bright red of the Grey Teal
>> irises in my own images. In fact the irises in David's images look more
>> brown than red to me.
>>
>> HANZAB describes the colour of the Grey Teal's iris as varying from vivid
>> crimson-red to dull red in adults of both sexes while it is light brown or
>> hazel in the juvenile.
>> In "Wildfowl" (Madge and Burn) the Grey Teal's iris is described as red,
>> brightest in adult males.
>>
>> I have photos showing Grey Teal irises ranging from bright red to dull red
>> which probably covers the range described for adults in HANZAB, however, I
>> would need to study a colour chart to determine if any of 'my' Grey Teal
>> have the light brown or hazel irises of juveniles.
>>
>> HANZAB describes the colour of the Northern Pintail's iris as being
>> yellow-brown. (I interpret that as being base colour brown with a yellow
>> caste.)
>> In "Wildfowl" (Madge and Burn) the Northern Pintail's iris is described as
>> being yellowish to brownish-yellow. (I interpret that as being base colour
>> yellow with a brown caste.)
>>
>> It seems to me that the common perception of Grey Teal is that they do not
>> hold their tails as erect as shown in David's images, however, I do have
>> images of Grey Teal, taken at the same location as David's birds, which are
>> almost identical in pose to David's birds and those birds, albeit much
>> healthier and more robust looking, have their tails as erect.
>> Also, the plumage colours are very similar.
>>
>> I do lean strongly towards the bird being a Grey Teal but reports of
>> sightings of Northern Pintails occur in Australia now and then so I think it
>> is reasonable to consider that species when assessing the ID of a teal which
>> 'looks different'.
>> David Taylor is a very experienced bird observer and a keen and competent
>> photographer of birds so I am more than prepared to listen when he says
>> there seemed to be something 'different' about this bird.
>> But I won't be dashing out to the Lockyer Valley to look for this bird
>> anytime soon.
>>
>> Bob Inglis
>> Sandstone Point
>> Qld
>>
>> http://www.photos-n-guides.com/
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message----- From: Ed Williams
>> Sent: Friday, May 04, 2012 8:55 AM
>> To: david taylor
>> Cc: Gary Davidson ; Robert Inglis ; birding-aus
>> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Help with ID on a duck please
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> One thing I would take note of is the eye colour in the photos - red like a
>> Grey Teal rather than dark brown like a female Pintail.
>>
>> Cheers again,
>>
>> Ed
>>
>>
>>
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