Recent updates

Eurasian Wigeon x American Wigeon hybrid, Swallows Park, Clarkston, Asotin County (Washington, USA), 15th January 2015 - copyright Keith Carlson

(photo ID: 2023)

A few more updates during the past week, mainly ducks this time.  Thanks to all who have contributed photos and/or insights and if you haven't done yet then please get in touch.  You can comment on any thread if you have anything to say about the hybrids or topics covered, and if you have any photos you would be willing for us to use, please let us know (e.g. by emailing us).


New bird hybrid pages added for:

• Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Shoveler
• Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Pintail
• Northern Pintail x Common Pochard
• Northern Pintail x Tufted Duck
• Chestnut Teal x Tufted Duck

New photos added to:

• Gadwall x Eurasian Wigeon
• (Gadwall x Eurasian Wigeon) x Northern Pintail trigen
• Gadwall x Mallard
• Eurasian Wigeon x American Wigeon
• Mallard x Northern Pintail
• Mallard x Red-crested Pochard
• Intersex birds (and their confusion with hybrids)

And don't forget you can now follow us on Twitter at @BirdHybrids


Also a reminder that you can see a index list linking you to all the bird hybrids featured so far here:

• Index of bird hybrids

And an index list of all the bird hybrid topics covered so far here:

• Index of bird hybrid topics

Enjoy browsing - and please do contribute where you can!
 

Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Pintail

Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Pintail hybrid, Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 26th October 2014 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo ID: 2031)

This bird appeared on a lake that is frequented by many ducks released for shooting including lots of Gadwall, Wigeon and Pintail.  Several Gadwall x Wigeon hybrids have appeared here but while this is superficially similar there are a number of differences that point to Pintail parentage.  It lacks the brown edged scapulars but instead has a row of long curved pale-edged scapulars for example, and of course it has a distinctly long central tail.

Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Pintail hybrid (same bird as in photo ID 2031 above), Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 26th October 2014 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo ID: 2030)

What was presumably the same bird reappeared after a period of absence the following April.  It kept company with Pintails and on one occasion attacked the male Pintail shown with it in the second photo below when that bird showed interest in an accompanying female.

Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Pintail hybrid (presumably same bird as in photo IDs 2030-2031 above, with Northern Pintail), Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 9th April 2015 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo IDs: 2377-2378)

Pintail influence wasn't immediately obvious to me in the next bird which, on first look, seemed very similar to a Wigeon except for the unusual head pattern.  I even started to wonder whether Eurasian Wigeon might show such an anomolous head pattern through mutation or intersex rather than through hybridisation.  But then the bird showed a bit better and I started to see more anomalies.  Firstly I noticed the tertials weren't dark with clear pale edges as on all 3 Wigeon species.  They didn't contast so much with the scapulars being grey with more diffuse narrower dark centres - and indeed that pattern on the scapulars was more marked than it is on Eurasian Wigeon.  Then I noticed white on the edges of the tail and a row of whitish grey feathers above the tail (I thought uppertail-coverts at first but they may have been the lower row of rump feathers).  It was all starting to look a bit Pintail-like.  Pintail influence wasn't obvious on the front half of the bird, but actually there were hints of it in the head pattern.  The pale forecrown stripe had a narrow diffuse dark line running through the middle of it which was very obvious when the bird was front-on and there was a suggestion of the base of the pale line extending up the side of a Pintail's neck on one side, only visible at certain angles.

Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Pintail hybrid (with Eurasian Wigeon),Great Ryburgh (Norfolk, UK), 6th March 2017 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 3124-3128)

This bird was still present a couple of days later though still a bit distant for photography.  I managed better views of the wing pattern which showed a mixture of Wigeon and Pintail influence.  It showed the white inner secondary of Wigeon and a hint of white on the forewing (just on the larger coverts), but it also showed a broad white trailing edge to the secondaries and gingery buff wing-bar at the base of the speculum like on Pintail.

Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Pintail hybrid (same bird as in photo IDs 3124-3128 above; with Eurasian Wigeon),Great Ryburgh (Norfolk, UK), 8th March 2017 - copyright Dave Appleton

(photo IDs: 3137-3143)

Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope
Northern Pintail Anas acuta

Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Shoveler

Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Shoveler, Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK) , 25th December 2012 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo ID: 2036)

Some of us wondered whether the Wigeon parent of this hybrid could have been Chiloe Wigeon but it seems that it fits Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Shoveler ok.  Joern Lehmhus commented as follows:

"The head pattern is typical for Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Shoveler.  I have seen this on 4 birds from the Netherlands (all in the wild but at least 2 probably escapes) and 4 captive birds from France said to have this parentage.  Here is a link to one of the Netherlands birds, feeding with eurasian Wigeon: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUVBBmx7zYU.

In general hybrids of this combination I have seen so far have at least a small pale area at the base of the bill.  In some birds it was considerably larger and along the side of the bill but sometimes the pale area is absent or extremly small, so that the bird appears to have an all black bill.  This one appears similar to [Andrew's] in that respect, for example: waarneming.nl/foto/view/622526."

Eurasian Wigeon x Northern Shoveler (same bird as in photo ID 2036 above; with Northern Shoveler), Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK) , 25th December 2012 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo ID: 2037)

Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope
Chiloe Wigeon Anas sibilatrix
Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata

Northern Pintail x Common Pochard

released Northern Pintail x Common Pochard hybrid, Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 13th Febrauary 2011 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo ID: 2070)

Many of the ducks at this site have been released for shooting and I gather this was subsequently seen to be bearing a yellow ring like many of those released birds.

released Northern Pintail x Common Pochard hybrid (same bird as in photo ID 2070 above; with Northern Pintail), Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 13th Febrauary 2011 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo IDs: 2071-2072)

For the female below Andy points to the blue substerminal band on the bill and the largely ash grey secondaries being very Pochard like.  The blue sides of the bill are Pintail-like and the bird's structure seems a good match for this hybrid.

probable Northern Pintail x Common Pochard hybrid, Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 17th January 2012 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo IDs: 2048-2052)

Northern Pintail Anas acuta
Common Pochard Aythya ferina

Northern Pintail x Tufted Duck

possible Northern Pintail x Tufted Duck hybrid, Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 3rd March 2012 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo ID: 2041)

Drake Anas x Aythya hybrids are tricky enough and we really struggle with the females.  Hopefully in time with more examples to study we'll get more confident but at the moment I think the 'possible' qualifier is needed here.  Having said that as Andy points out the broad white trailing edge to a rather plain brown speculum (shown in his photo below) would appear to be a strong pointer to Pintail being one of the parents.  Both the bill pattern and the colour under the tail have been suggested as indicators of Pintail parentage but we have seen these features on hybrid wildfowl where neither parent species show them, so this may not be the case.

Many of the ducks at this site have been released for shooting so that is the likely origin for this hybrid.  As can be seen below it mainly associates with Pintail.

 possible Northern Pintail x Tufted Duck hybrid (same bird as in photo ID 2041 above; with Northern Pintails), Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 3rd March 2012 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo IDs: 2042-2044)

possible Northern Pintail x Tufted Duck hybrid, Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 20th January 2012 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo IDs: 2045-2047)

Northern Pintail Anas acuta
Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula

Chestnut Teal x Tufted Duck

possible Chestnut Teal x Tufted Duck hybrid, Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 26th December 2012 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo ID: 2032)

Dabbling duck (Anas sp.) x diving duck (Aythya sp.) hybrids can be a real challenge to identify and this one is no exception.  The site is frequented by ducks released for shooting - mainly British species (especially Wigeon, Gadwall and Pintail) but numerous hybrids have been seen here too.  Chestnut Teal of course is not a British species, but the red eye and ruddy plumage tones may point to that species being involved here.  The red eye could come from Pochard but if that were the Aythya parent would we not expect a paler back?  On the other hand are the finely vermiculated flanks shown above what you would expect on a Chestnut Teal hybrid?  This is certainly one that we haven't resolved yet.

Andy tells us that this bird was diving for food like an Aythya sp.  Other features he draws attention to include the speculum mostly green but with some blue, green or purple gloss to the head depending on the angle and subdued mottling to the breast.

possible Chestnut Teal x Tufted Duck hybrid (same bird as in photo ID 2032 above), Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 26th December 2012 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo ID: 2033)

possible Chestnut Teal x Tufted Duck hybrid (presumably same bird as in photo IDs 2032-2033 above), Leathes Ham, Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK), 29th October 2012 - copyright Andrew Easton

(photo IDs: 2034-2035)

Chestnut Teal Anas castanea
Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula

Bird Hybrids is now on Twitter

Good news for Twitter users... the Bird Hybrids project is now on Twitter.

Follow us at https://twitter.com/BirdHybrids!

Recent updates

Gadwall x Mallard hybrid (with Bufflehead), South Platte River, Denver County (Colorado, USA), 21st January 2013 - copyright Cathy Sheeter

(photo ID: 1870)

A stack of new work added since my last update post.  These include some great photos from Cathy Sheeter (like the one above) and a whole load from Steve Graby, among others.  Big thanks to all who have contributed.


Added or updated since my last update post:


New bird hybrid pages added for:

• Ruddy Shelduck x Common Shelduck
• Pied Wheatear x Black-eared Wheatear
• European Goldfinch x Island Canary

New photos added to:

• Swan Goose x Greylag Goose
• Swan Goose x Canada Goose
• (Swan Goose x Greylag Goose) x Canada Goose
• Greater White-fronted Goose x Canada Goose
• Greater White-fronted Goose x Cackling Goose
• Lesser White-fronted Goose x Barnacle Goose
• domestic Greylag Goose x Canada Goose
• wild-type Greylag Goose x Canada Goose
• Snow Goose x Canada Goose
• Snow Goose x Cackling Goose
• Ross's Goose x Cackling Goose
• Dark-bellied Brent Goose x Pale-bellied Brent Goose
• Muscovy Duck x Mallard
• Gadwall x Mallard
• Gadwall x Northern Shoveler
• American Black Duck x Mallard
• Mallard x Mexican Duck
• Mallard x Northern Pintail
• Redhead x Ring-necked Duck
• Reeves's Pheasant x Ring-necked Pheasant
• Western Grebe x Clark's Grebe
• Northern Flicker intergrades
• Black-capped Chickadee x Mountain Chickadee
• Yellow-rumped Warbler intergrades
• Dark-eyed Junco intergrades - Pink-sided Junco x White-winged Junco
• Dark-eyed Junco intergrades - Pink-sided Junco x Grey-headed Junco

Text updated and new photos added to:

• Intersex birds (and their confusion with hybrids)

Text updated on bird hybrid pages for:

• Greater White-fronted Goose x Bar-headed Goose
• Lesser White-fronted Goose x Ross's Goose
• Greylag Goose x Cackling Goose
• Emperor Goose x Snow Goose
• Egyptian Goose x Ruddy Shelduck
• Wood Duck x Chestnut Teal (including suggestion that it may instead be Wood Duck x Laysan Duck
• Canvasback x Redhead (or Canvasback x Ring-necked Duck)

Also a reminder that you can see a index list linking you to all the bird hybrids featured so far here:

• Index of bird hybrids

And an index list of all the bird hybrid topics covered so far here:

• Index of bird hybrid topics

Enjoy browsing - and please do contribute where you can!

Pied Wheatear x Black-eared Wheatear

presumed Pied Wheatear x Black-eared Wheatear, Balcik (Bulgaria), 18th April 2006 - copyright Steve Mlodinow

(photo ID: 2012)

There have been a number of claims of Finsch's Wheatear in Bulgaria, but it seems that these have proved controversial.  They have been found breeding with female Pied Wheatears and a more likely explanation is that they are Pied Wheatear x Eastern Black-eared Wheatear hybrids.  Such hybrids are known to occur frequently and their appearance can be strikingly similar to that of Finsch's Wheatear.

Some hybrids have darker backs than this bird, but I think this should be in range for a worn and faded bird at least.  It is sometimes said that the absence of a white tip to the tail is a pointer away from Finsch's Wheatear, although I am not sure that's enough to rule out Finsch's on its own as surely the white must disappear on worn birds?  More telling for Steve's bird here is the way the black extends up the outer tail feather - it should not do this on a Finsch's Wheatear.

presumed Pied Wheatear x Black-eared Wheatear (same bird as in photo ID 2012 above), Balcik (Bulgaria), 18th April 2006 - copyright Steve Mlodinow

(photo ID: 2013)

Finsch's Wheatear Oenanthe finschii
Pied Wheatear Oenanthe pleschanka
(Eastern) Black-eared Wheatear Oenanthe (hispanica) melanoleuca

European Goldfinch x Island Canary

presumed European Goldinch x Island Canary hybrid, East Park, Hull (East Yorkshire, UK), 27th March 2016 - copyright Steven Russell

(photo ID: 2753)

Although finches do occasionally hybridise in the wild they are often deliberately crossed by breeders.  Both of the birds shown in this thread were seen in the wild but it is difficult to find a solution from the native British species.  Goldfinch x Canary is a popular hybrid among breeders and escaped (or released?) examples of this seem to be responsible for both individuals.

The Goldfinch influence is clear for the first one but the second species is less so.  The dark warm-brown mantle and streaky flanks might suggest Linnet, but this bird shows a double wing-bar which is yellow.  Goldfinch has yellow in the wing, but not patterned like this (see the flight shot below), so this would suggest one of the Canary/Serin/Siskin group.  Some yellow on the face supports that, and the white collar probably indicates that the parent was a domestic bird, presumably a Canary.

presumed European Goldinch x Island Canary hybrid (same bird as in photo ID 2753 above), East Park, Hull (East Yorkshire, UK), 27th March 2016 - copyright Steven Russell

(photo IDs: 2754-2756)

The next bird is a bit different, showing more yellow on the underparts.  Again the Goldinch parent is clear with its red face, pink bill, yellow wing stripe and white-tipped primaries, but the yellow species giving it its yellow underparts is less easy to determine.  The dark streaking along the flanks is a clue and the most likely answer is Goldfinch x Canary.  This is a popular hybrid among breeders and presumably this is such a bird that has escaped (or been released).

probable European Goldinch x Island Canary hybrid, Bangor (Gwynedd, UK), May 2012 - copyright Steve Graby

(photo IDs: 1989-1991)

A similar (caged) bird appears in an ID discussion thread on Birdforum here.



European Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis
Island Canary Serinus canaria