Hi David, I agree that Australian Shoveler shares some superficial characters to this bird. A couple of the most obvious differences are that Australian Shoveler has a much larger bill and broad heavy markings across the breast (not Blue-winged Teal like spotting).
Cheers, Chris Wood eBird & Neotropical Birds Project Leader Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York http://ebird.org http://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 1:34 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello! > > Nice pictures! > > Your Shoveler seems to me to have an even stronger resemblance to a > male Australian Shoveler. If it were an Australian Shoveler, it almost > certainly would be an escape from captivity. I do not know what the > fieldmarks are for distinguishing an Australian Shoveler from a hybrid > N Shoveler X Blue-winged Teal. You can find images of both on the > web by using Google Images search. The hybrid N Shoveler X Blue-winged Teal > images that I found seemed to have paler breasts that either your bird > or the Australian Shovelers. > > David > > David M. Mark > Amherst, NY > [email protected] > > > On Mon 05/09/11 10:57 AM , Christopher Wood [email protected] sent: >> Hi everyone, >> >> This morning on our way back to Ithaca, Jessie Barry and I stopped at >> the Montezuma NWR Visitor Center. We saw what may be my first lifer in >> New York, a hybrid BLUE-WINGED TEAL X NORTHERN SHOVELER. This was >> certainly one of the more spectacular birds that we have seen recently >> and certainly worth a look if have a chance. The entire time it was >> with a group of drake Northern Shovelers with a lone female shoveler. >> I have posted several photos to Flickr and posted some comments as >> well. Overall, the bird appears more shoveler-like and may recall a >> transitional plumage male in early winter. Note, however the >> Blue-winged Teal breast color with spotting that continues onto the >> flanks, smaller bill, intermediate almost reddish eye color, white >> crescent on the side of the face etc. Behavior was very similar to >> Northern Shoveler, including courtship displays to the female. >> >> We also saw a hybrid/intergrade COMMON TEAL X AMERICAN GREEN-WINGED >> TEAL. I posted several photos of this bird as well, also with comments >> on things to look for. It was interesting to see how horizontal line >> all but disappears in flight. >> >> Both birds were still present when we left around 7:40am. >> >> Photos here: >> >> http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinicola/ >> There are also some photos of a few other highlights that we found in >> Monroe County over the weekend including Western Willet, Eared Grebe >> and Orange-crowned Warbler. >> >> Good birding, >> Chris Wood >> >> eBird & Neotropical Birds Project Leader >> Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York >> http://ebird.orghttp://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu >> _______________________________________________ >> GeneseeBirds-L mailing list - Ge >> [email protected]http://mail.geneseo.edu/mailman/listinfo/geneseebirds-l >> >> >> >> > > -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
