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Waterfowl ID request - Northeast India (1 Viewer)

S

Sumit

Well-known member
Hi,
I was in Dibru-Saikowa National Park in northeast India (near Dibrugarh) recently and saw some pochards flying over the river at sunset. I managed a few shots which needed to be colour corrected due to the intensity of the setting sun. The flock looks like a mixed one to me and may contain Tufted Ducks and possibly Greater Scaup or Baer's (both of which would be of great interest from a range/conservation viewpoint). Though the image is a poor one there may be enough for the experts to form an opinion.
Thanks and regards,
Sumit
 

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Thanks Rob/Joern,
The attached is another flock split up into 2 parts. Same place and about the same time. Does it also contain all Aythya nyroca ?

Cheers!
Sumit
 

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Hi Sumit; I am not sure on all of them (13 and 14 something else? might be common Pochard?), but most again Ferrugineous duck in my opinion.
 
To me they look like Tufted Ducks (or at least most of them, 13 and 14 in the 3rd photo are not):

-bird nr. 11 in the second photo has a tuft on the head (and nr. 10 shows a hint of one)
-the body sides are completely white on the males, Ferruginous Ducks have ferruginous body sides with only a small patch of white on the belly
-the females have pale patches at the bases of the bills, how common is that on Ferruginous Ducks?

Compare:
http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/s...result&Bird_ID=192&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1
http://www.tarsiger.com/images/Bruun/ayt_ful_6860.jpg
 
CAU said:
To me they look like Tufted Ducks (or at least most of them, 13 and 14 in the 3rd photo are not):

-bird nr. 11 in the second photo has a tuft on the head (and nr. 10 shows a hint of one)
-the body sides are completely white on the males, Ferruginous Ducks have ferruginous body sides with only a small patch of white on the belly
-the females have pale patches at the bases of the bills, how common is that on Ferruginous Ducks?

Compare:
http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/s...result&Bird_ID=192&Bird_Family_ID=&pagesize=1
http://www.tarsiger.com/images/Bruun/ayt_ful_6860.jpg
Click to expand...

CAU; I think you are right! My Mistake , Sumit. I am sorry!
They look really very reddish brown on my monitor, but those with that pale reaching up on the flanks; they could indeed not be Ferrugineous Duck ...compare here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/m_geven/320642243/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/m_geven/318890795/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/m_geven/318890791/

should have realized that straight away!

I think for example 7, 10 and 11 are male Tufted, 13 and 14 probably Common pochard?

1, 2 also probably male tufted ; 3 maybe female tufted?
 
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Joern Lehmhus said:
CAU; I think you are right! My Mistake , Sumit. I am sorry!
They look really very reddish brown on my monitor, but those with that pale reaching up on the flanks; they could indeed not be Ferrugineous Duck ...compare here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/m_geven/320642243/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/m_geven/318890795/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/m_geven/318890791/

should have realized that straight away!

I think for example 7, 10 and 11 are male Tufted, 13 and 14 probably Common pochard?

1, 2 also probably male tufted ; 3 maybe female tufted?
Click to expand...

The birds 13 and 14 look a lot like Common Pochards, with such pale faces and all, but somehow the shape doesn't convince me, as they seem to have thinner necks than the Tufted Ducks, and I have a feeling that Common Pochards usually are thicker necked than Tufties. I think that Gadwalls may be rather similarly coloured (white undersides of the wings with a bit darker remiges, pale bellies, somewhat paler faces), and that they also are a bit thinner necked. I don't know if Common Pochards show two white spots on the leading edge of the wing, like bird 14, but at least Gadwalls do:

http://www.birdpix.nl/album_page.php?pic_id=76135&sid=3275fb7b4172f741650399b3b50c320a

That said I'm not really certain what birds 13 and 14 are, more pictures would be needed...
 
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Tufteds as CAU has pointed out. But 13, and especially 14, look rather long, thin necked and small headed like Pintail but it's tricky.

Sumit, hope you enjoyed Dibru and managed to see a few of the special birds there - the parrotbill and babblers etc... Fantastic place but very hot and a hard area to work!
 
Tim Allwood said:
Tufteds as CAU has pointed out. But 13, and especially 14, look rather long, thin necked and small headed like Pintail but it's tricky.
Click to expand...

Yes, the shape reminds me too of Pintail, but the white undersides of the wings doesn't fit that species, unless it's a photographic effect, therefore I went for Gadwall instead.
 
Thanks Folks!
I had a problem with these from a structural viewpoint - not so much the markings which are affected by distance and light. I thought the the birds were heavy billed and stockier than Tufted/Ferrugious - at least some of them. But I have limited experience with pochards.
And Tim, we just touched Dibru-Saikowa - our focus was Mishmi Hills were we managed two male Sclater's Monals - certainly the highlight of the trip.

Thanks again,
Regards
Sumit
 
I don't knwo my India birds but 13 and 14 look an awful lot like out Shite-faced Whistling duck here in Southern Africa. Do you get them up in India?
 
doug_newman said:
I don't knwo my India birds but 13 and 14 look an awful lot like out Shite-faced Whistling duck here in Southern Africa. Do you get them up in India?
Click to expand...
Thanks Doug. No we don't get them in India. My guess is that they are Common Pochards but hard to be conclusive based on the poor image.
Regards
 
Sumit,

Who cares about the ducks - Well done with the Monals! I read Bill's account enviously despite seeing the monals there in April, sounds like your views were a little better than my 2km range scope views!

Tufted Ducks - some obvious females in the there, some of the others could be Fudge, maybe something else - 10 looks interesting, is that a green tint to the head? 13+14 I would put down as Gadwall, not buff enough for pintail and not elongated rear-end, either way certainly as Anas.
 
Please have another look

Hi,
I come back like a bad coin. But while processing the images for filing I felt very uncomfortable with the Ferruginous, Tufted and Common Pochard ID's for the ducks in the attached - some of them seem structurally wrong for these species (specially neck length and beak shape). In fact the tufted images in the pic shows up the structural differences fairly well I think.
Am attaching a much more identifiable image of the one posted initially. I am hoping that better processing will help viewers and the response will resolve my lingering doubts on the ID.
Thanks for your time.
Cheers!
Sumit
 

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