Posted by Mia McPherson on October 30, 2012 at 4:15 PM
Phil, my big Sibley's Guide to Birds shows the male Blue-winged Teal with both pale blue and green on the wings which I can see in your image. Why do you think this is a hybrid?
Posted by Ron Bielefeld on October 30, 2012 at 5:07 PM
This is not a hybrid Phil. As Mia states blue-wings have a large baby-blue patch on the leading portion of the wing and a iridescent green speculum. Your image is an adult male blue-winged teal.
Never saw the green before. I see it in Sibley now, but I checked with Cornell.edu. before posting. Mia, I didn't know if it was a hybrid, hence the question marks. Thanks both of you for clearing it up. Sibley cleared up another question I had (just to show I can be ignorant more than once): the non-breeding plumage of the male. I wondered how so many females showed up with no males!
Posted by Mia McPherson on October 31, 2012 at 2:09 PM
Phil, I just wondered why you thought it might be a hybrid.
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