Tufted Duck x Pochard? Brandenburg/Germany (1 Viewer)

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello,

is this a Tufted Duck x Pochard hybrid?

https://flic.kr/p/2mYrn5o

13.02.2021, Plauer See near Brandenburg, NE-Germany

Yes, it seems unbelievable, but its the only picture of this bird. I just noticed it later, after looking at the pictures.

Please note, that the following points arent (confident) features, but are the reason, why this duck looked special to me:

• a broad, spoon-like bill
• diagonally black tip and diagonally paler bluish.grey band behind, ghosting Pochard patten
• a darker eye
• a bump at the rear head instead of a tuft

Therefore I dont only seek for identification, but also for comments about these features. Thank you!

 

[Derbyfella]

Common Pochard x Tufted Duck

Common Pochard x Tufted Duck hybrid, Barry (Glamorgan, UK), 9th November 2016 - copyright Thomas Winstone (photo ID: 3066) This is p...

birdhybrids.blogspot.com

Alexander, as a very very inexperienced bird identifier, i find your posts exemplary in how you decide what is what, with clear reasons as to why or why not.

so anyway here’s a link to a site with various hybrids to give other examples, sorry I know it’s cheating

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Derbyfella,
thank you for the link! I dont see any cheating here, but maybe I dont get the right meaning for cheating here (but then the google-algorithms got this wrong, too)? Non-native speaker the usual excuse.

 

[Derbyfella]

I think that’s why I find your posts so good Alexander because you are so concise.

I think lazy may have been a better choice of phrase, rather than doing my research!

what other options do you think Alexander or do you not want to lead peoples viewpoints?

by cheating, I meant cutting corners or being lazy.

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello again,

no I think, its either a pure Tufted Duck or an hybrid, with Tufted Duck x Pochard the most likely combination. I was alerted (again) by this post and the helpfull comment by Nutcracker (where is he, I learned much from his posts, but havent seen him for a while here?): Tufted duck hybrid (Nov 15, 2020, Netherlands)

And I hope that Jörn and others jump in.

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

And the other bird, that I also believe to be a possible Tufted Duck x Pochard hybrid, is this one:

https://flic.kr/p/FLB9fN

https://flic.kr/p/FGXDPr

(winter, Rheinauer See/Mannheim, SW-Germany)

Thank you for comments!

 

[Butty]

sorry I know it’s cheating

rather than doing my research!

This absolutely is research, and not 'cheating' in any way. That Bird Hybrids site is a prime source of info, for wildfowl especially; run by Dave Appleton who is a highly experienced and cautious observer.

 

[stevethehydra]

My impression is that the first bird looks like a hybrid (possibly Tufted x Pochard, though I wonder if Tufted x Ferruginous can be definitely ruled out?) but the second just looks like a slightly scruffy Tufted.

 

[Richard D]

Interesting. All I could confidently say about that first bird is there is Tufted in it!
The bill is almost Scaup like in width but the bill patterning does seem to point more to TuftedxPochard than TuftedxGreaterScaup.

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

This absolutely is research, and not 'cheating' in any way. That Bird Hybrids site is a prime source of info, for wildfowl especially; run by Dave Appleton who is a highly experienced and cautious observer.

Yes, I completly agree, this is research. And I am glad, that my english was good enough to get the meaning of cheating right.

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

Hi Alexander,
interesting birds there.
And yes, Dave´s Website Bird hybrids is a very good ressource for this cross and it shows very many females and their high variability , and for several others also.

The Plauer See bird: The difficulty is that the photo is very blurry and it is very difficult to see the true outline of the head and to assess the exact bill pattern I see not only a bump in the head shape but a true short tuft. but seems higher on the rear head and closer to the crown than in most tufted duck (but look at this photo:https://static8.depositphotos.com/1...os_9414913-stock-photo-female-tufted-duck.jpg
What we glimpse of the bill pattern looks OK for a hybrid (but could also still be OK fro Tufted duck) . White on the base of the bill is also very common in this cross (though pure Tufted duck can also show this). Therefore I think you could have a hybrid Tufted duck x common pochard there, but can´t exclude a pure tufted duck.

The Rheinheimer See bird: This is better visible, but I think this is a tufted duck. The front of the head looks rather low, but the bird may have been actively diving just before the photos, which can alter the head profile in a single photo quite markedly. The bill pattern is odd, but some females can show bill pattern close to this.

https://jooinn.com/images/tufted-duck-aythya-fuligula.jpg

https://previews.123rf.com/images/whiskybottle/whiskybottle1803/whiskybottle180300078/97213427-tufted-duck-aythya-fuligula-female.jpg