• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

What's wrong with the neck of this Common Scoter? (1 Viewer)

Andrea Collins

Well-known member
England
This bird turned up on the lagoons at one of my local reserves in the south west corner of Cumbria recently. Common Scoters are very common locally on the sea at this time of year but are rarely seen on land.

At first sight I thought this individual had something wrapped around its neck. Unfortunately with the strong wind making my eyes water constantly I couldn't get a clear enough view through my scope to see what it was.

Having made a few extreme enlargements from my photos though, it looks more like it simply has no feathers on its neck, except perhaps for the black diagonal stripe. It had an identical stripe the other side.

If that's the case, what might be going on? Something gone wrong with its moult perhaps? Maybe disease, or an infestation of parasites affecting feather growth in that area? Or perhaps it looks to other people that there is indeed something wrapped round its neck?

Whilst I didn't see it flying, it did spend a lot of time diving with a group of Scaup and had some success with finding food items. However, after a while it left the water and spent some time preening on the grass before settling down to rest.
 

Attachments

  • DSC_3444-3.jpg
    DSC_3444-3.jpg
    186 KB · Views: 135
  • DSC_3543-3.jpg
    DSC_3543-3.jpg
    237.8 KB · Views: 54
Possibility of a bird caught by a raptor, partially plucked, prior to escaping another possibility? (There was a particularly gruesome Common Gull photographed some years ago)
 
I wonder if could have got caught up in some fishing line? If so, I'm glad it's free and on its own.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 4 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top