
Another case of not knowing what I had until I got the images on my computer. I knew this duck looked different, but it was quite a distance from me, so I couldn't identify it. Actually, had I been much closer I still wouldn't have know what it was, but at least I would have known for sure that it was a new bird for me.I saw these yesterday at TRNWR on the main pond near the visitor center. I've been checking the water levels from the visitor center overlook recently since they raised the drains. A small amount of water has collected in the deepest areas and ducks are starting to frequent it. It's mostly been Northern Pintails, a few American Wigeons and Mallards.
The duck on the left is definitely a Eurasian Wigeon. I'm not sure about the one on the right. I thought it was a female, but it has a rather large patch across its eye. It may be a pale male American Wigeon. Whatever the case, they were swimming together.
There is a little more green around the left duck's eye than both Sibley and Cornell show, for a Eurasian but not nearly as much as Sibley illustrates for a Eurasian x American Wigeon hybrid. A search on the web returns many pictures of Eurasian Wigeon with at least the amount of green that this one has. So it may be a pure bred.
Cool! I have yet to find myself a Eurasian!
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