Thanks Joern and hi all,
Joern Lehmhus commented on Chris's duck hybrid and confirms my first thought -
Hardhead x Grey Teal. See his e-mail below.
Joern would like to contact the photographer of this one:
http://www.feathersandphotos.com.au/forum/showthread.php?18357-Hybrid-duck-hardhead-id-doonside-nsw
Cheers,
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Sydney, NSW
________________________________
From: Jÿfffff6rn Lehmhus <>
To: Nikolas Haass <>
Cc: "" <>
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 6:43 PM
Subject: Pine Creek (NT) - unusual teal
dear Chris, dear Nikolas,
I´d think that is a Hardhead x Grey Teal hybrid (Aythya australis x Anas
gracilis). The bird is clearly an Aythya x Anas, it has a rusty brown
coloration and it associates with Grey teal. There have been a few previous
cases of that hybrid. The darker stripe on the cheeks does occur in several
Anas x Anas and aythya x Anas hybrids, even it is not expressed in either of
the parent species.
It is assumed that this is some part of an ancestral head pattern of dabbling
ducks, although this element of head pattern is now only seen in Baikal teal
(which is said to have splitted early from the other Anas).
I´d be interested to see more pictures if there are some.
also do you know the photographer of this one? or are in this Forum : This
seems to be also interesting and i would like to contact the photographer to
see more:
http://www.feathersandphotos.com.au/forum/showthread.php?18357-Hybrid-duck-hardhead-id-doonside-nsw
Cheers, Jörn
________________________________
Von: Nikolas Haass <>
An: Jÿfffff6rn Lehmhus <>
Gesendet: 16:24 Mittwoch, 10.Oktober 2012
Betreff: Fw: [Birding-Aus] Pine Creek (NT) - unusual teal
Hi Joern,
Habe hier mal wieder etwas fuer Dich (siehe Link in Chris's E-mail)
Gruss,
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Sydney, NSW
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Nikolas Haass <>
To: Christopher Watson <>;
"" <>
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 1:21 AM
Subject: Pine Creek (NT) - unusual teal
Hi Chris,
I dare to use the H-word! Yes, this is clearly a hybrid. It is too big to be an
aberrant Grey Teal. Biased by the place the most logical thought would be Grey
Teal x Hardhead hybrid. However, bill shape and bill colour make me think that
one parent could be a Northern Pintail. The overall colour including the paler
cheek makes me think Chestnut Teal as the other parent. But this is highly
speculative and includes two vagrants to the area! Often the offspring of two
duck species can look more similar to a third species than to its parents. So
it is hard to tell.
Cheers,
Nikolas
----------------
Nikolas Haass
Sydney, NSW
________________________________
From: Christopher Watson <>
To:
Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2012 12:12 AM
Subject: Pine Creek (NT) - unusual teal
G'day all,
I've got one of those ID problems that makes you shudder at the thought of
it; either I'm missing something really simple and I'm about to make a
colossal a**e of myself, or it is a genuinely interesting bird that might
be worth a second thought.
Either way, I've agonised over it for a while and decided to just bite the
bullet. It's better to ask and be dismissed and derided than to miss the
opportunity of discussing an interesting bird.
At Pine Creek the other day (where there is, by the way, an apparently
resident Little Kingfisher at the
ornamental water park in the centre
of
town - unusual by itself), I found this confusing duck at the sewage ponds.
I've put some pictures on the blog, and provided my early thoughts, but the
more I think about it, the more I become confused. So I place myself in
your hands - what is this bird?
http://comebirdwatching.blogspot.com.au/p/id-help.html
Cheers,
Chris Watson
--
*BIRDS CENTRAL*
*Central Australian birding resource*
*Guiding, writing, and site information*
*from Alice Springs*
www.comebirdwatching.blogspot.com
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