ML51083871

Age and sex

Unknown age, Male - X

Observation details

Many mallard traits you list above are found in formative Hawaiian Duck males. The black tail and curl included. This bird is phenotypically a Hawaiian Duck. Speculum color ranges from emerald green to blue in Hawaiian Duck. From a genetics standpoint there are birds on Oahu with posterior genetic assignments as .95 Hawaiian Duck. The eye ring is age related being bolder as the bird ages. Hawaiian Duck is unique among Anas ducks in males having a distinct immature (formative) plumage that can incorporate a number of mallard traits. No two birds can be the same. Most of those birds are incorrectly dubbed hybrids. They are not. Much of this variation is lost after the birds second prebadic molt, becoming the brown duck so well know. This plumage change is genetic but driven by hormones. Bottom line is that this bird is well within the norm for Hawaiian Duck, and there are many on Oahu that are similar. Reexamining the tail, this is typical of adult male Hawaiian Ducks, including the semi curl. - Andy Engilis, UC Davis ornithologist studying Hawaiian Ducks

Technical information

Model

NIKON D300

ISO

1600

Focal length

380 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/10.0

Shutter speed

1/3200 sec

Dimensions

3803 pixels x 2260 pixels

Original file size

7.44 MB