Ferruginous Duck x Greater Scaup

captive probable Ferruginous Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid, Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 1st December 2012 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo ID: 0432)

I have seen this bird on a number of occasions and have struggled with its ID.  When I first saw it it was with a Ferruginous Duck and a Greater Scaup and I suspected that it could be a hybrid between these two species, showing rich mahogany tones to the plumage which could come from Ferruginous Duck (but are not so strong to be certainly so) and a white patch round the bill suggestive of Scaup.  I've come up with various other ideas in the meantime but, with some help from Joern who has always favoured that ID, I am now back where I started.  The bird is bulky and broad-bodied - for a while that made me wonder if a Netta species could be involved (Rosy-billed Pochard have been kept there) but this is probably more likely to have come from Greater Scaup.

captive probable Ferruginous Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid (same bird as in photo ID 0432 above), Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 1st December 2012 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 0433-0436)

captive probable Ferruginous Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid (presumably same bird as in photo IDs 0432-0436 above), Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 4th December 2010 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 0437-0439)

captive probable Ferruginous Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid (presumably same bird as in photo IDs 0432-0439 above), Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 12th February 2011 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 0440-0441)

captive probable Ferruginous Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid (presumably same bird as in photo IDs 0432-0441 above), Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 12th March 2011 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 0442-0446)

captive probable Ferruginous Duck x Greater Scaup hybrid (presumably same bird as in photo IDs 0432-0446 above), Blakeney Collection (Norfolk, UK), 24th November 2013 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo ID: 0447)

Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca
Greater Scaup Aythya marila

Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck

Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrid (with Tufted Duck), Earlswood Lakes (Warwickshire, UK), 1st March 2016 - copyright John Oates

(photo ID: 2738)

All of the examples of this hybrid that I have seen, either in life or in photos, have been reasonably similar to each other.  As noted at the bottom of this page, there may be another type appearing more like Ferruginous Duck, and photos of such a bird would be very welcome.  The majority seem to show distinct mahogany tones on the breast (especially at the sides) and on the crown, though these tones can be hard to detect in some light conditions.  The flanks are sullied buffy-grey showing a narrow pale upper border below the darker wings and scapulars.  They show a short tuft, appearing more lumpy and less wispy than on a Tufted Duck.  John's photos of the first bird featured here show a green head sheen, and this has been visible on some of mine too.  At first this may seem unexpected given that Tufted Duck typically shows a purply head sheen (though can look green) but head sheen is one of those features that is not necessarily matching either parent or intermediate, and Ring-necked Duck x Tufted Ducks also seem to show a green head sheen.

Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrid (same bird as in photo ID 2738 above), Earlswood Lakes (Warwickshire, UK), 1st March 2016 - copyright John Oates

(photo IDs: 2739-2740)

Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrid, Wroxham Broad (Norfolk, UK), 24th December 2011 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 0448-0450)

Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrid (presumably the same bird as in photo IDs 0448-0450 above), Wroxham Broad (Norfolk, UK), 12th November 2011 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 0451-0452)

The next bird was at a site that attracts large numbers of ducks that have been released nearby for shooting. Although wild birds appear here too, a disproportionate number of hybrids have been encountered at the site and many of these are presumably among those that have been released.  The origin of this bird is unknown but in view of the circumstances should not be assumed to be of wild origin.

Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrid, Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 24th December 2011 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 0453-0456)

The next birds are also of uncertain, but dubious, provenance. There were three of them on a small pond adjacent to a restaurant and the only other ducks on the pond were two Shelduck x Wood Duck hybrids and another unidentified dabbling duck hybrid, the parents of which were not species naturally occurring in the UK. Whether they belong there, escaped from a nearby collection or were released there deliberately is not known, at least not by me.

The drake resembled the birds shown above and it was not immediately clear if the two female birds with it were hybrids as well or if they were pure Tufted Ducks.  The overall body colouration was rather warm and reddish but not so much so that they couldn't be pure Tufted Ducks. However the photos confirm that the tuft structure was similar to that of the drake hybrids and one bird at least shows pure white under the tail. Perhaps their identification should not be regarded as proven, but I'm reasonably sure they were all hybrids.

Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrids (male and 2 presumed female hybrids), River House Restaurant, Stirling (Stirlingshire, UK), 29th December 2013 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 0457-0466)

Although the next bird was close to a wildfowl collection it wasn't, and had never been, part of that collection and may therefore be a bird hatched in the wild.

Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrid, Blakeney (Norfolk, UK), 16th May 2016 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 2838-2839)

The next two drakes were associating closely with one another and more loosely with a small flock of Tufted Ducks.

Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrid, Blakeney (Norfolk, UK), 14th February 2017 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 3038-3043)

Joern Lehmhus has written about Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrids in the German magazine Aves.  The text is in German but non-German speakers may still be interested as it's accompanied by a number of photos of Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrids.  You can access the PDF of Aves 3 (2012) - the article starts on page 32 with section 4 on this hybrid beginning at page 37 - the four photos captioned "Reiherente x Moorente" are Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck hybrids.


All of the males of this hybrid that we have seen here so far have had pale browish flanks and a dark head with reddish colour pretty much restricted to the crown.  The new Helm guide "Wildfowl of Europe, Asia and North America" by Sébastien Reeber (2015) shows a second more Ferruginous Duck-like type with darker reddier brown flanks (though still contrastingly paler than the breast and upperparts) and a fully reddish-brown head.


Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca
Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula

Ring-necked Duck x Ferruginous Duck

Ring-necked Duck x Ferruginous Duck hybrid - copyright Joern Lehmhus

(illus. ID: 0653)

Joern's drawing is based on photos of two birds from the web, one from England and the other without a location specified.  One of the two birds had totally black undertail coverts.  He has written about these in the German magazine Aves.  The text is in German but if you can read German it's worth accessing the PDF of Aves 3 (2012) - the article starts on page 32 with section 5 covering this hybrid beginning at page 38.

This next bird is rather different, chiefly in having darker flanks (more like Ferruginous Duck).  It also lacks much evidence of Ring-necked Duck in its head shape.  It wasn't submitted to us as a Ring-necked Duck x Ferruginous Duck hybrid and indeed that may not be the correct ID.  But to my eyes at least it has a prominent pale subterminal band on the bill and a hint of the white surround to the base of a bill (clearest in the head-on photo) which together are suggestive of Ring-necked Duck influence.

I wonder if the situation with this hybrid is analagous to that of Ferruginous Duck x Tufted Duck in which most males seem to have pale flanks (as in Joern's illustration of Ring-necked Duck x Ferruginous Duck, above) but some reportedly show darker more Ferruginous Duck-like flanks.  These birds are also more Ferruginous Duck-like in other respects (e.g. head colour).  Perhaps there are two types of Ring-necked Duck x Ferruginous Duck hybrids also, the more frequent one showing paler flanks and clear evidence of Ring-necked Duck in head shape and the other showing darker flanks and a less obvious head shape?  At the moment this is simply speculation - more evidence is needed before we can draw conclusions.  Here is the bird anyway, let us know if you have any thoughts about it.

possible Ring-necked Duck x Ferruginous Duck hybrid, Throckmorton Lagoons (Worcestershire, UK), 9th December 2006 - copyright Andy Warr

(photo IDs: 2433-2435)

Ring-necked Duck Aythya collaris
Ferruginous Duck Aythya nyroca