Thank you David and Caleb for your replies to the question of Mallard/Mexican/hybrid ID! I appreciate your insight, observations, and the discussion of details to note when considering IDs of this sort. I've had a couple other replies off-list both in support of Mallard x Mexican hybrid as well. They mentioned the curled upper tail coverts and light tail feathers being indicative of hybrids with Mallards, both in Mexican and Mottled Ducks.
I have photos of another likely Mexican x Mallard somewhere in my photo archives taken several years ago that I'm curious to have another look at now. Thanks again! Thomas On Sun, Oct 25, 2020 at 6:34 PM David Tønnessen <[email protected]> wrote: > Thomas, Caleb, > > Yes, as pointed out in a Facebook discussion earlier today, the bird > appears to be a hybrid (albeit more Mexican looking than your average F1). > The black uppertail coverts, as well as whitish rectrices and curling are > indicative of Mallard genes, and in some photos the tertials appear > gray-tinged as well (another Mallard trait). Pure Mexican Ducks also > typically pop out as pretty dark, which this bird didn't to my eye in > comparison to female Mallards it was photographed with (albeit still > slightly darker). Still, a very cool bird with great discussion to be had. > > > Cheers, > > David Tonnessen > Colorado Springs, CO > > On Sat, Oct 24, 2020 at 9:58 PM Caleb A <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi Thomas! >> I'll start with a disclaimer: I'm not an expert on Mexican Ducks. >> The reason I'm putting in a word is because I remember learning from a >> waterfowl presentation that Mallard ducks (both sexes) and Northern >> Shovelers are the only dabbling ducks that have white tail feathers. Since >> Mexican Duck is not either Mallard or Northern Shoveler, a pure Mexican >> Duck should *not* have white tail feathers. I do agree that this bird >> looks to have Mexican genes. The bill and head look consistent with >> Mexican, but the tail looks more Mallard to me. I'd suggest this is a >> Mexican x Mallard, although I'm eagerly awaiting the experts to weigh in on >> this one. Great photo! >> >> *The birds are happy, and so am I* >> *~Caleb Alons, Larimer County* >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Colorado Birds" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/c3ad1830-2d24-4933-8845-136f6a1cbb34n%40googlegroups.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/c3ad1830-2d24-4933-8845-136f6a1cbb34n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > > > -- > *David Andreas Tonnessen* > Student @ CU Boulder > cell: 719-309-8572 > > Explore eBird <https://ebird.org/home> and iNaturalist > <https://www.inaturalist.org>, citizen science databases. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Colorado Birds" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADkL8FeRXR6SeHDk5vvqDh3Ht1v6vrZ1DNnr31wFq10g7JsqtA%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADkL8FeRXR6SeHDk5vvqDh3Ht1v6vrZ1DNnr31wFq10g7JsqtA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Thomas Heinrich Boulder, CO [email protected] www.pbase.com/birdercellist -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADXhbwGRchegzpCMZF1_4hh_Ya%2B_0yvffsQ2tWNgfkC8RmBUbg%40mail.gmail.com.
