Mystery Bird: Redhead, Aytha americana

tags: , , , ,

[Mystery bird] Male Redhead, Aytha americana, photographed at Hermann Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 22 January 2008 [larger view].

Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/180s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.

Read an analysis for how to identify this species below the fold;

Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:

Here's a puffy-headed Aythya with a uniformly reddish head -- a prominent feature that leads us directly to the correct identification. This drake Redhead shows all the standard marks: the vermiculated gray sides and back, the extensively black breast, the yellow eye. Note the exact pattern of the bill, too; hybrid pochards resulting from various combinations can look like Redheads, but (so far as we know) only a true Redhead will show the distinctive color zones of the bill: largely blue, with a broad and reasonably well-defined white band behind a completely black bill tip.

And what about head shape? The crown of a Redhead is narrow and "squeezed," the cheeks muscular, curving down into the slightly narrower neck. Compare this nearly head-on view with the recent shot of a Canvasback drake.

Review all mystery birds to date.

More like this

tags: birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird #1] Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, photographed at the Hermann Park Conservancy, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 18 November 2009 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with…
tags: Redhead, Pochard, Raft Duck, Red-headed Raft Duck, Aytha americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Redhead, also known by a slew of other names, including Pochard, Raft Duck and Red-headed Raft Duck, Aytha americana, photographed in Hermann Park, Houston, Texas. [I will…
tags: Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz [Mystery bird] Lesser Scaup, Aythya affinis, photographed in Hermann Park Lagoon, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 December 2005 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ…
tags: Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, birds, nature, Image of the Day [Mystery bird] Ring-necked Duck, Aythya collaris, photographed at Hermann Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow] Image: Joseph Kennedy, 11 March 2008 [larger view]. Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope…

Ooh, it looks like a redhead! It appears in my Collins guide, but only to show that a Swedish birder in the 1960s couldn't recognize a hybrid in Malmö.

Bird recognition by the book. :-)

Oh, yes - a lovely Redhead drake; a bird I've never seen in life, though a female has been wintering near my home for the past coupla years. Hope she brings a friend this year!

drake redhead

One of my favorite diving ducks: a drake Redhead, and a beautiful shot of him too.