When a friend of mine, who has just started birding along with his young
children, told
me that he believed he had seen a hybrid wigeon, I was a bit skeptical.
When he told
me me the bird had a broad green stripe across the eye and a rufous face, I
decided
knowingly that he had seen a green-winged teal. But when he said that it
had a white
crown, I figured it was worth a look...

I did have that look today, and darned if there wasn't a Eurasian x American
wigeon on
the pond at Robinswood Park in Bellevue (148th Ave SE and SE 22nd). The
quite
small pond it was on was surprisingly busy, with shovelers, buffleheads,
mallards,
coots, and a double-crested cormorant to go along with the wigeons. All of
this was
in the middle (well, OK, to one side) of a small public park.

Description: Broad green eye stripe, as broad as the accompanying
Americans, pale
crown, closer to American than the yellowish of a classic Eurasian,
otherwise rufous
head, but noticeably grayer on cheek, ala American. Flanks gray toward
rear, reddish
on breast, but the gradation was essentially continuous, rather than
contrasting. The
back was gray.





Jim McCoy
jfmccoy at earthlink.net
Redmond, WA