Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 22:49:01 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Eugene J. Scarpulla" Subject: Re: White Duck at Pennyfield Lock MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Karen Stewart wrote: > Yesterday while walking the C and O canal I saw a small white duck on the > canal itself between Violet's and Pennyfield. . Not white like a barnyard > duck, white like a gull. Light grey wings. No markings in flight. Rounded > head and a blue bill with a red patch at the base. Karen, You apparently have described a leucistic White-cheeked Pintail. If you have access to a copy of "Waterfowl: An identification guide to the ducks, geese and swans of the world" by Steve Madge and Hilary Burn, look on pages 84-85 and 224-225, species number 97, White-cheeked Pintail. p.84: c. "LEUCISTIC: Common aberration in captivity, frequently escapes." p.85, Plate 30, 97c: shows the duck you described (Elliot, please note the dark eye.) p.224: "Leucistic birds, frequent in captivity, are pale greyish-buff overall..." p.225: "West Indian birds occasionally reach coastal Florida and Texas, records elsewhere in North America most likely referring to escapes. Popular in captivity..." Gene Scarpulla Millers Island, Maryland gscarp@erols.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================