ML275472661

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Others have IDed/listed this bird as a Blue-winged Teal, and while I agree that the female in this picture looks suspiciously pale and crisply marked, since it's definitely paired with a drake Cinnamon Teal (see above), and given the (perhaps underappreciated) rarity of Blue-winged in western Oregon in winter, I'd rather err on the side of caution than call it a Blue-winged. It's interesting to me that winter Blue-winged reports in Oregon are almost invariably of females - you'd think that if they really occurred annually, then reports would be skewed toward more-obvious males, as is the case with, say, Eurasian Wigeon (and, for that matter, Cinnamon Teal). Personally I've never seen a male Blue-winged in winter, though I think there are a few records. It makes me wonder how many reports are really Blue-winged versus pale female Cinnamons, both of which are variable. Last fall I was in the southeast, where Cinnamon Teal is rare and Blue-winged is common, and it was fascinating to watch the local birders attempt to sort through a range which seemed to span the full spectrum. The more Blue-winged I looked at, the less confident I felt about separating the two species. Anyway, this bird could certainly be a Blue-winged Teal, and I wouldn't fault anyone for listing it, but I think I'll stick with "teal sp."

Technical information

Dimensions

1200 pixels x 800 pixels

Original file size

207.18 KB