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Re: Eurasian Teal at Pickering Creek

From:

Phil Davis

Reply-To:

Phil Davis

Date:

Fri, 1 Apr 2005 01:45:58 -0500

Hi Dave (et al.)

Yes, please. The Eurasian form of Green-winged Teal (A. crecca crecca), 
called "Common Teal" in Europe and on most world checklists, is a 
reviewable subspecies/form for Maryland. In other parts of the world, this 
species has been split from our "American" Green-winged Teal (A. crecca 
carolinensis) and smart money says it will probably be split by the AOU in 
the future. This is a bird to "bank," for sure.

BTW, there is a third species of Green-winged Teal, the "Aleutian Teal" (A. 
crecca nimia). When the Brits split the American and Eurasian forms, they 
kept the Aleutian Teal with the Eurasian form, as a subspecies of the 
Common Teal. The Aleutian Teal looks like the Common Teal (with the 
horizontal white stripe on the side), but it is a larger bird. Last spring 
in Adak, in the Central Aleutians, where the Aleutian Teal is resident, we 
had a American GW Teal show up one day and the difference in size was 
noticeable. Otherwise, it is difficult to separate Aleutian and Common Teal 
if the flock is homogeneous or if you have a single bird.  There is 
speculation that if and when the AOU splits Common Teal and American 
Green-winged Teal, the Aleutian Teal might become a separate species, since 
there is very little gene flow in and out of the Aleutian endemics. More 
than you (n)ever wanted to know ...

Anyway, the MD/DC Records Committee would welcome a report /images on this 
"Common Teal".

Thanks.

Phil


At 22:19 03/31/2005, Dave Curson wrote:
>I called in briefly at Pickering Creek this morning (8:00am) and was 
>looking through a flock of 40 or so Green-winged Teal foraging in the 
>wetland impoundment when I noticed a drake with its white stripe going 
>"the wrong way". The vertical white bar at the front end of the flank was 
>absent and instead it had a horizontal white stripe along its side above 
>the flank.  Other than that it looked identical to the drake Green-winged 
>Teal.  I know the Eurasian teal well from home in England but haven't seen 
>one this side of the water before. All the teal disappeared when I went to 
>the car for a cup of tea, but the Center's director Mark Scallion tells me 
>he saw a flock of teal (same ones?) around 9am. It could be worth a look 
>tomorrow, for local birders.
>
>Phil, Bob, do I need to write a description?

===================================================
Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland  21035     USA
301-261-0184
mailto:[log in to unmask]

MD/DCRC Web site:  http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
===================================================