Hello Barry and the Tweeters community,

I would like to thank Barry for finding and sharing the location of the Partial Albino Northern Shoveler at The Everett water Treatment Plant.
I have been able to "film" (1080p video) this bird twice at close range, including yesterday, Tuesday, in and out of the water, preening, feeding alone and feeding with a large group of shovelers at that location.

This beauty appears to be a Partial Albino Northern Shoveler or perhaps less likely, a Pekin X Northern Shoveler hybrid.

Some observations:
1. there are a few gray feathers on the mantle and scapulars that have recently appeared black, which I assume means that white feathers, were until recently, covering Black in the process of molting
2. there are several gray feathers near the belly
3. the Tarsus and Toes are the same color as the bill, bright Orange.
4. the bill length appears to be at the lower end of the range for a Northern Shoveler. When swimming near other males and females the bill appears to be 15-20% shorter than most in the group.
5. the feeding behaviors are identical to other Northern Shovelers and it feeds very near or within the shoveler groups (3- 80 Birds feeding in very close proximity).

If you have had difficulty with the "Where's Waldo" illustrations, try observing this great bird within the large shoveler groups.

Below are links for discussions of the terms: albino, partial albino and leucistic that I found helpful.


http://www.birds.cornell.edu/ivory/pastsearches/2005_2006/stories_reports_0506/leucism

http://www.sibleyguides.com/2011/08/abnormal-coloration-in-birds-melanin-reduction/

and page xii in The 2014 Sibley Guide to Birds (Second Edition).

Thanks again for all of you contributing to Tweeters.

Dan Reiff
Mercer Island


----- Original Message -----

From: "barry" <levineb at fastmail.fm>
To: "Tweeters" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2014 4:00:48 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Imperfect albino Shoveler, Franklin's at Ev Sewage

Tweeters,
A beautiful day was punctuated by one of the most beautiful birds I've
ever seen. A pure white duck with a very brightly colored orange
shoveler's bill. Could not see the feet. The eye was golden, not pink.
Size wise could easily fit into the range of a shoveler. Smaller than
the Mallard's nearby. The bird was seen in the large pond to the north.
Best to go to the opening along the fence line about 1/3 way down from
the parking lot as you walk toward Spencer Island. Look back to the west
in the outside channel closest to where you would be standing. Given
that we just don't see many of these birds, I would welcome any comments
about possible hybrids, albinos versus leucistic birds, etc. Hope that
someone gets to photograph this bird.
Also of note was at least one Franklin's Gull sitting along the wall
farther to the west of where the duck was seen. On the pond was at least
one Eared Grebe.
Access into the ponds is not allowed due to work that is being done. The
worker I spoke to was knowledgeable about birds and sounded optimistic
that access could be granted in the future. He also said that he thought
that the work being done will create more habitat for the birds.
All the best
--
barry
Seattle
levineb at fastmail.fm

--
http://www.fastmail.fm - Or how I learned to stop worrying and
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