Tweets (long),



Brien Meilleur and I relocated the alleged Garganey (referred to as the
"Garganey" hereafter) this morning about 9 AM in the big pond near the
playing fields at Magnuson Park and are busy backtracking.



It was certainly the same bird we saw December 29 and that Brien saw on the
31st. It dove repeatedly, was very active, and kept to itself as before. The
speculum was conspicuously visible at all times as the bird swam and on
several occasions climbed out onto the bank. However, the upper speculum
border was not pure white but showed some buffy white toward the body. The
face pattern and bill size and color were as we had noted before, but there
was a distinct, though quite restricted whitish border to the base of the
tail on the outside edge, where on a Green-winged one would find a whitish
patch, perhaps formed by the under tail coverts. The throat appeared pale,
as is said to be a Garganey feature.



We then went looking for some Green-winged Teals for comparison and found
three females on a pond to the east. On these three the speculum was never
visible as they foraged, nor did they ever dive, as the "Garganey" did
nearly constantly. The face patterns of these female Green-winged Teals
lacked the dark shading below the pale bar beneath and behind the eye that
is said to be characteristic of the female/eclipse male Garganey face
pattern. -These female Green-wings also seemed to lack the pale throat. Two
of the three female Green-wingeds showed much more conspicuous white patches
at the base of the tail, though the third closely approximated the
"Garganey." We also noted that the flank and rump feathers on the
Green-winged females seemed much more coarsely patterned than on the
"Garganey," and the back feathers showed rusty centers and pale rusty
margins, while the "Garganey" seemed much plainer and grayer overall on the
back and rump and more finely patterned on the flanks.



At this point we went back to have another look at the "Garganey." We first
noted a male and female Green-winged Teal where the "Garganey" had been, but
while studying them as they foraged on the far bank, the "Garganey" climbed
up beside them and engaged the male Green-winged Teal in a beak wrestling
match. During this agonistic encounter we could see the "Garganey's" belly
well and it appeared to show a decided contrast between the white belly and
the patterned breast, said to be a Garganey feature. The "Garganey" then
swam off by itself and resumed diving, the speculum conspicuous as before.



So we are no longer certain about this bird being a Garganey but don't find
that it fits Green-winged Teal all that well either. A hybrid is perhaps
possible. Green-winged features on the "Garganey" include the buffy
coloration on the upper border to the speculum and the pale base to the
tail. The inner wing panel is not pale gray like a male Garganey but rather
evenly dark gray like a female Garganey or Green-winged Teal, though the
upper wing panel seemed pale gray on our first encounter. Garganey features
include the face pattern (though it is less conspicuous than most) and pale
throat, the conspicuous speculum visible at all times, the odd behavior,
including constant diving and an aggressive encounter with the male
Green-winged Teal, and details of the breast, flank, covert, and rump
feathering and perhaps head and bill shape.



Go figure. I have some more photos which I will have a closer look at
shortly but don't expect they will resolve the issue. An odd duck, to be
sure.



Gene Hunn

Lake Forest Park, WA

enhunn323 at comcast.net