Hi Tweets,

Was downtown this aft on an errand (Granville Clint, the male Peale's
Peregrine on the N side of the Granville 200 Building as usual for late
aft/early evg, BTW), an hour of daylight left, so I thought I'd rip over to
the Stanley Park Seawall to see if the Common Eider was there. Nope, but
there was a hybrid male Common X Barrow's Goldeneye in a big mixed flock of
both goldeneye, plus Surf Scoters and Greater (mostly) & Lesser Scaup at the
Empress of Japan Figurehead/Girl in a Wetsuit sculpture location about 400
meters E of Lumberman's Arch on the N side of Stanley Park, Vancouver BC.
Direct comparisons made with definitively-plumaged males of each goldeneye
species in the flock. As the bird is in high Definitive Alternate plumage
and thus very cleanly marked, there's no possibility that the
markings--particularly those of the face--are those of a subadult Barrow's
emerging into adult male plumage.

As Definitive Alternate male Barrow's, except:

--head-shape as Barrow's but with less nuchal extension;
--bill/forecrown angle less acute than Barrows but more than Common (direct
comparison); round white loral spot, as Common;
--black on back as extensive as Barrow's with row of white scapular spots
('portholes') situated completely within black, more elongated and less
well-defined than Barrow's but still clearly rectangular;
--Barrow's black 'hook' formed by extension of black from back onto white
shoulder truncated into a small round knob.

Since this hybrid result is quite rare in the Vancouver BC area, maybe one
record per three years on average, I wondered if it might not be a hybrid
which has been along the N side in the mid- to late 1980's, or maybe the
same one which appeared on Lost Lagoon twice in the early 1990's and again
in early 1995. I'm not sure what the life expectancy of goldeneyes is, but
in any case, this was a new bird. The others all had variations of Barrow's
white loral crescents combined with Common head-shape, while this has a
Common-like round loral spot.

As goldeneyes on winter territory are usually quite site-loyal, often not
straying all winter much more than a hundred meters either side of the
center of their territory, and much more than the scoters and scaup, this
individual *should* be relatively easy to relocate. I know that occasionally
good numbers of Barrow's Goldeneye will join the large numbers of Common
Goldeneye on Lost Lagoon, but definitely much prefer the saltchuck, at least
during the day. I've always wondered where the Lagoon Barrow's come from,
whether local birds around the Stanley Park foreshore just flipping in over
the trees for a quick holiday on fresh water, or from further away where
tide changes ight displace them from feeding areas.

Michael Price We aren't flying...we're falling with style!
Vancouver BC Canada -Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
mprice at mindlink.net