Mystery Bird: Redhead, Aytha americana

tags: Redhead, Aytha americana, birds, nature, Image of the Day

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.