This afternoon, on Cottonwood Marsh at Walden Ponds, I saw the hybrid Green-winged Teal which has been noted by Cara Stiles and Cole Wild. It was consistently on the far north side of the pond. It appears and behaves like a hybrid with a wigeon. All the characteristics such as of the black rump and white rear flank colors are wigeon-like. There was no buffiness in the hind flank. The bill has the discrete blue area like a wigeon. I had the pleasure of sitting and discussing Colorado birding with an old friend, Warren Finch who showed up. Warren commented after his look through my spotting scope that the head was more orange than rust, but the green/purple flash of irridescent feathers through the head was spot on for Green-winged Teal. It frequently appeared alongside male wigeon and appeared slightly smaller. Another strong indication of the teal's wigeon parentage was it was very interested and stayed close to a female American Wigeon and vice versa. I took some terrible distant photos, but will see if they are worth uploading for viewing.
A quick internet search produced a very similar appearing bird from Nevada http://www.birdandhike.com/Wildlife/Birds/07-Anser/Duck/Teal/Hyb1/_Hyb1.htm Bruce Webb visiting Boulder from - Granite Bay, CA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
