In reply to Jerry Tangren's question:

"Are the number of hybrid wigeon increasing, or just our detection of
them? I remember reading a paper in the 70's that described the
handful of hybrids known til then. Apparently, there are quite a few
more than a handful out there now.

Each summer I tell myself I should be checking the ponds to the east
of us to look for Eurasian wigeon, but I never do. There seems to be
one or possibly two very late records for Douglas Co. (don't have
the information in front of me). However it would be quite easy for
a Eurasian wigeon to hook up with an American and to breed in
our state."

I doubt if hybrid wigeon are increasing. My guess is that there are
so many more birders now than there were even a few years ago, that any
rare species (or hybrid) that seems to be increasing is probably a
consequence of this. I've certainly seen that as I've analyzed shorebird
records for the Northwest (although a few species in fact have
increased--but they are common ones, for which the change in flock size
reported is not so birder-dependent).

As far as Eurasian Wigeons breeding in Washington, I propose this
is highly unlikely. American Wigeons are not that abundant as breeding
birds in the state, compared with quite a few other dabblers, and I
strongly suspect the wintering flocks of AMWIs that are accompanied by
EUWIs come from north of here, perhaps well to the north. The AMWI is a
very common breeder across at least the western part of the boreal forest,
right up into the subarctic. And EUWIs drop off in numbers rather rapidly
to the south of Puget Sound, so there are probably few in the southern part
of the range where--and this is also supposition--our small population of
breeding AMWIs winters. If EUWI is found as a North American breeding
species, my guess is it will be somewhere in the North Woods--i.e., the
vast spaces where there are few observers!

Dennis Paulson, U. of Puget Sound