von Humboldt

Thanks guys

Location: Ferndale, California approximately 100 miles south of the Oregon border in the Eel River Valley 4 miles from Pacific Ocean. Habitat: edge of small town long-established residential backing up to creek and agricultural pasture. Taken 1/22/21

I believe that bill is an example of an intersex mallard i.e. it has color characteristics intermediate of the male and the female. The mallard female's lack of estrogen causes the dominant male pattern of color in the plumage and other body parts to appear to some degree (in some birds it's the male's lack of testosterone that causes intermediate plumage). In mallards, it's not that rare to see this phenomenon to some extent. I haven't seen one where the female's orange and black bill has been turned almost as yellow as a males bill, with only a little orange and a few speckles of black "ble

I agree with the Bird Nuts. What's interesting about that duck is the bill. Intersex plumage mallards are usually females with old or injured ovaries. The bill is usually clearly female but that bird is the first I've seen with an "intersex bill"

Maybe I don't realize how much white Mexican can have on its tail. I haven't seen them except on two trips to northern Mexico 30 years ago. I'm very familiar with mottled ducks and I guess I am "projecting" tail expectations from them. What I mean is that much white on a Mottled ducks tail in January would indicate distant MALL genes. And then there's the lighting. Jerry, I completely agree with this statement from your second post I'd want much better pictures than this to argue for a pure Mexican. Also, I think the tail's pretty light for a pure Mexican, and the breast i

Okay I'll give my opinion. The yellow bill lets us know it's a male. And the general plumage means it has to be mostly a Mexican duck or Mottled duck. The overall plumage really isn't a darker dusky brown like a Mottled, but more like a female mallard and Tex/La Mottled ducks don't like to be more than 100 miles away from the Gulf of Mexico, so it's (at least mostly) Mexican duck. As for the mallard ancestry, the tale is not curled at all and if it were a 50/50 hybrid it should be. However, it does look like the tail is whitish on top and the rear back grayish. Also that chest sure seems to ha

The male on the right has an incomplete but definite white crescent and a red or at least reddish eye. I would say that means it's a hybrid. I agree the bill on the female looks like a cinnamon teal but I don't know the slight variations in facial pattern well enough to make a definite call.

Agree & 3. Female Mallard

The bill looks like a cross between a redhead or Scaup and a cinnamon teal due to color and the lumpy shape . The plumage and shape could also be said to look like a hybrid of those ducks. Of course, the hybridization of those two ducks must be extremely rare. I don't think it's a domestic mounted. I guess we will need to wait for Tony Luekering to tell us or at least give the most educated guess.

I'm familiar with the Orchard Oriole because I lived in the Midsouth for years. It definitely looks like an Orchard Oriole but isn't it strictly an Eastern bird

Location: Ferndale, California approximately 100 miles south of the Oregon border in the Eel River Valley 4 miles from Pacific Ocean. Habitat: edge of small town long-established residential backing up to creek and agricultural pasture. This bird has been constantly feeding at my hummingbird feeder for the last three weeks. I've only lived on the West Coast a couple of years and I thought this was a Bullock's Oriole female (I don't think it's an immature male because of no black throat). I was surprised to see it here this time of year. After getting this picture of it (Dec 15)I thin

Notice the black butt, male gadwall is the only duck with that feature and it is a dominating one when seen from the side or rear.

Snow Goose Blue Morph

It is definitely a black duck. The yellow bill means it's a male.

The 1st.does appear to have a very large bill which would indicate cinnamon but is all of that bill or is there vegetative matter making it look big>