ML526754061

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

More peaked head, more grey on flanks, smaller bill on centre-right bird.

Observation details

One of the 3 adult male scaup looked a bit smaller than the others. For the entire 20+ minutes of observation its head appeared smaller and considerably more vertically elongated (as is clearly evident in the attached photos as well as the several I haven't included here). Also its flanks appear to have more grey smudging than those of the other two adult males. This bird has some intermediate qualities, which has resulted in a fair bit of equivocation on my part. For example, the back colour/verticulation appears to be similar on all three adult males (the birds never approached close enough for sharp photos). The head slope to rear "peak" isn't quite as pronounced as one would expect in a LESC. I've been unable to find much literature or discussion about GRSC X LESC hybrids and eBird does not offer that option. You'd think that would be the likeliest scaup hybrid combination in North America. There's all kinds of discussion of hybridization of scaup with other Aythya species.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM

ISO

200

Focal length

283 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/7.1

Shutter speed

1/400 sec

Dimensions

1410 pixels x 940 pixels

Original file size

1.01 MB