From looking at the first photograph I vote Black Duck for the bird in the
back which has the greenish looking bill. I thought hen mallard bills are
orange. I participated in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wing bee two
years in a row where they analyze wings sent in by hunters and I was told
there that some white in the speculum is acceptable for black duck. If I
were checking hunters and they had the back bird in their game bag I would
certainly call it a black duck based on this photo.
Mike Lathroum
-----Original Message-----
From: <mdbirding...> [mailto:<mdbirding...>] On
Behalf Of Balestri Marcia
Sent: Friday, May 10, 2013 8:45 PM
To: MD Birding
Cc: Marcia Balestri
Subject: [MDBirding] American Black Ducks at Lilypons or not
While I seem to have everyone's attention and am being contrary tonight ;-)
...
On Wednesday, when we were looking for the Red Phalarope at Lilypons, there
were 2 ducks in the shorebird pond next to the river. I didn't look at them
very closely (although, I did think one looked odd for a female Mallard, but
hey, it's a Mallard) and I recorded them both as Mallards (MALL), as I saw
white on the speculum of what I will call the female duck and I didn't think
they were dark enough for American Black Ducks (ABDUs). I noticed later
that evening everyone else that was there that day (and subsequent days)
recorded them as ABDUs. So, I took a a better look at them today, since I
couldn't figure out why I missed the call so badly. I am assuming they are
the same ducks as Wednesday (looked like it to me). Both were sitting in
the same pond, and indeed the "female" was showing white in a sitting
position, so I took a photo (1st pix below, duck in front). I could only
see blue on what I will call the male (assuming they were a breeding pair).
I was thinking one of each--female MALL, male ABDU. However, later they
flew, Bob got a couple of quick shots off, and both ducks showed white,
although the "male" appears to just show white below the speculum and not
above (rest of the photos).
So to the experts--do we have a MALL and a hybrid? Aberrant ABDUs? Two
hybrids? Or what?
Apologies for the not great photos.
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