kwilliam8
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 help with waterfowl identification | |
birdied wrote:
Lovely set. m Love the last one.
I am not positive, but I think you have Male and Female Barrows Goldeneye.
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barrows_Goldeneye/id
Birdie
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arbitrage wrote:
I think the first one is still a Barrow's Goldeneye (or a Common) but beak color more like a Barrow's. Probably the slicked back/wet head is making it look a little different than the female in the 3rd shot.
The male is for sure a Barrow's Goldeneye with the teardrop shaped white patch (vs circular for Common). I think the female is likely a Barrow's also.
Nice shots. We mostly have the Common ones here but further up island I've seen more Barrow's.
Birdie and Geoff,
Thanks for your feed-back! I was aware that the second image is of a male Barrow's Goldeneye, and that the third image is of a female Barrow's Goldeneye. What I was wondering about was the identification of the bird in the first image. While that one was with the others, its beak just does not seem to match the others - in relative size (to head) and in its shape. It had occurred to me that the head feathers might be flattened down. However, I have several other images of this bird (not as good as this image) over a longer period of time. The shape of its head never seemed to change. It the feathers had been flattened down (e.g., due to being wet from diving), then wouldn't they have eventually gone back to a more normal position? That led me to think that the beak on this bird indicated some species other than a Goldeneye. Perhaps I am over thinking this... Who knows, maybe this is a hybrid. But thanks again for taking the time to offer your thoughts. Much appreciated!
Keith W.
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