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Dabbling duck ID London (1 Viewer)

BirdBoyBen

Young birder
Found this duck amongst a flock of teal. Very dark cap and light face/breast compared to other teal. thought it may have been molting or a hybrid, but have found nothing in my books.

i will be pleased to hear any ideas as currently I have none. The only duck I can find with the dark cap is a Common scoter, which this certainly is'nt!
 

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It's just a normal female Teal for me. Maybe the darker cap is a trick of the light, i'm not sure. Can't see anything to suggest hybrid or otherwise.
 
Thanks guys. It did look like a teal overall, but I just couldn't find an explanation for the dark cap.

Thanks especially to Essex tern, I will do some research on intersexes.

:t:
 
Although the dark capped appearance does look a little odd, I can't really see any reason why this couldn't just be an effect of lighting - unless of course it was obvious at all times in the field.
 
I did notice it at another point across the river, and have a blurred photo showing the same markings. Otherwise I would most likely agree.
 
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