Gadwall - pure or mixed? (1 Viewer)

[MacNara]

Here in Nara, central Japan, as in many other places Autumn is starting later and Winter is short. Anyway, ducks have started arriving on the local pond, a couple of weeks later than they used to, though most so far seem to be on their way further south, and the Winter residents are not here yet in great numbers.

This morning we had Gadwall, Falcated Duck, Wigeon, Shovellers and Teal, along with lots of Mallards and the resident Spot-billed Ducks. We also had five or six female Baikal Teal - no males visible, though we had a few passing through last week, and we always have some long-term Winter residents eventually.

The attached photo shows a Gadwall male but with what seems to me to be a strange facial pattern. I wonder if it is OK for pure Gadwall, or if there is some mix (maybe not in the previous generation, but earlier)?

Thanks for any comments.

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello MacNara,

capped appearance with paler cheeks and some faint rusty-buff hues (in a faint stripe across the streaks) are within variation for a pure Gadwall.

Yes, I see a striped pattern that makes a Baikal Teal come into my mind too. But I dont think this is enough to suggest hybrid origin imo.
The white area at the rear belly bordering the black rear end is slightly more evident (due to posture?) , but also within variation for a pure male Gadwall.
But better wait for Jörn and others. Thanks!

 

[Butty]

As Alex says, some male gadwall have this striking cap/cheek contrast. But the faint pale line running from below the rear of the eye and curving down to the hindneck is odd. Does this mark show on other photos of it? As a potential echo of another species I can only think of American wigeon or maybe Baikal teal - which is not to say at all that it's anything other than a gadwall through and through.

 

[MacNara]

As Alex says, some male gadwall have this striking cap/cheek contrast. But the faint pale line running from below the rear of the eye and curving down to the hindneck is odd. Does this mark show on other photos of it? As a potential echo of another species I can only think of American wigeon or maybe Baikal teal - which is not to say at all that it's anything other than a gadwall through and through.

Hi Butty, Thanks for replying.

The local pond in our city that I go to is not very large, but is mentioned in a book of poetry from the eighth century because it was in the private garden of the first Japanese emperor to have a permanent capital. It has not got as many ducks these days as it did when I first discovered it fifteen years ago, partly because of an infestation of Cormorants, we think (they don't eat the same stuff but 100 Cormorants fishing as a team are going to scare a lot of ducks).

Anyway, I just went for a normal walk this morning. Our summer broke into autumn yesterday - maximum temperatures under 20ºC from now on - and the variety of birds has increased.

So, I just took some photos for the record. And I wondered about this particular bird after I had looked at the photos. The camera is a Canon R5 with a 100-500 lens and a pixel count of 50MP, and the focus and detail are astonishing.

I didn't particularly notice this bird when taking the pictures. But I attach a few other photos, so you can judge whether the white line was (as I think) genuine, or not. Female Baikal in photo one; Falcated in photo two.

I'm not suggesting I've found something rare; simply, I wondered about the background of this individual. If it's straightforward Gadwall, that's fine. It was the stripe (pale faint line) that got me, too.

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello MacNara,

thanks for the added info and pictures.

This made me realize, that I was biased as an european birder (with and Baikal Teal Falcated Duck as extremly rare vagrants or escapes). Here, I am used to accept a high degree of variation without a deeper look when faced with a unusual Gadwall.
Different situation in Japan, where a Gadwall hybrid with one of those species is worth considering. Tfs this interesting bird!

(I would happily see one individual of either Baikal Teal or Falcated Duck this winter in Germany).

 

[MacNara]

Thank you both Alexander and Butty.

I just thought from the face that it might be some kind of mix.

I think that Gadwall is an exceptionally beautiful bird. At a casual glance, maybe it doesn't stand out, but if you take time to look, then the subtle, delicate colouration make it special.

About Baikal Teal, there is good news. When I started birding about fifteen or twenty years ago, we had a few wintering at my local pond (actually in this case the moat of a fifth or sixth century burial tumulus). In another sub-pond we had a lot of Gadwall and Falcated Duck. Unfortunately both were tidied up by the 'Imperial Household Agency' (the sometimes fiction is that the tombs are the resting place of the ancestors of the present Japanese royal/imperial family - not just fiction as some are, or must be) and the vegetation where they liked to shelter went, so most of the birds went also, but a few chose to come back annually to another pond in the group. A lot of people would come to see the Baikal Teal especially because there was a hedge where you could see the birds, but they didn't notice you, so you could see and photograph them up close.

At that time Baikal Teal was 'endangered' or similar. I was told (I may be misremembering) that this was because after the collapse of the Soviet Union, they were hunted for food by people in Siberia. It was said that they were a popular choice because when disturbed, rather than flying off, they would flock together on the water, and then if you threw a net over them you could get a lot for little effort. Anyway, the economy of post-Soviet Russia became better and now the Baikal Teal is off the endangered list! Irkutskt the base for visiting Lake Baikal is a lovely city and prosperous; we really hope that the world spins again in such a way that we can visit once more!

Enjoy.

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

This seems well within the variation for Gadwall to me. while they may look rather drab there are a lot of subtle variations in gadwall head pattern .
Maybe that is the reason why crosses with another dabbling duck species can be rather variable in head pattern (think for example of Gadwall x Mallard)?