ML646416505

Observation details

*Seemingly the same bird Dennis Elder identified as a hybrid here on 6 November, and which I also had here on 26 November. Messy-looking male with red head and creamy white forehead stripe. At my November encounter, the bird had noticeably more red on the flanks, with only a thin band of gray near the waterline. It now seems like the gray is slightly more dominant than the red, although the flanks are still fairly messy and not quite adult-like. The breast also seems to be more gray than red. I did not notice any green near the eye during either encounter. I am far from an expert in this species, but I don't see any obvious signs of hybridization, and I suspect it is just a bird (perhaps a young bird?) in some ongoing stage of molt. Would love to be corrected if I'm wrong though! The only thing that gives me pause is the extent of the facial stripe, which was difficult to assess in the field, but in some pictures seems to be more extensive than that normally seen on EUWI. Compare my crummy pictures with Dennis's better ones from this location on 6 November.