Red-crested Pochard x Greater Scaup

captive possible Red-crested Pochard x Greater Scaup hybrid, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 9th November 2013 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo ID: 0399)

That Red-crested Pochard is one parent of this bird seems fairly clear but the identity of its second parent is much more difficult to determine.  If we assume the second parent was a pure species then Greater Scaup seems the most likely bet (these used to be present in the collection, though not at the time I first saw this hybrid).  However another possibility is that the second parent was a different Aythya hybrid that has been in the collection for some time - that bird's identity is not fully resolved but it may well be a Ferruginous Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid, making this bird a Red-crested Pochard x (Ferruginous Duck x Greater Scaup) trigen.

captive possible Red-crested Pochard x Greater Scaup hybrid, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 9th November 2013 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 0400-0408)

 captive possible Red-crested Pochard x Greater Scaup hybrid, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 24th November 2013 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 0409-0411)

Red-crested Pochard Netta rufina
Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca
Greater Scaup Aythya marila