Mystery Bird: Laysan Duck, Anas laysanensis

grrlscientist — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 07:59:04 +0000

tags: Laysan Teal, Laysan Duck, Anas laysanensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz

~~[Mystery bird]~~ Laysan Duck, also known as the Laysan Teal, Anas laysanensis, photographed on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Midway Island, Hawai'i. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]

Image: Joe Fuhrman, March 2010 [larger view].

NOTE: Unless you are a beginning bird watcher, PLEASE wait 24 hours before identifying this bird. (Intermediate-expert birders are encouraged to use puns, anagrams, poetry references or citations, Monty Python quotes or anything else that tickles your fancy to indicate you've identified this species during the first 24 hours after the image pops up. Thank you.) Everyone -- even beginning birders! -- PLEASE name at least one field mark that supports your identification.

Review all mystery birds to date.

grrlscientist Mon, 03/29/2010 - 03:59

Hmm, the location doesn't look right for what I think this is. I would expect the Anatomy to be blue-green, but not in Hawaii, I thought it would Antipodean.

Oops, meant to say this subspecies would probably be like a Handyman to listen to.

Not much to pick from here. Sarkozy might address Bushmen this way.

Definitely a duck

It looks and swims like one, but does it quack like one? :P

I agree with Jefrir, it's a duck. Dunno about the quacking, or for that matter, how well it goes with orange sauce or a fine vin.

But...But it floats like a witch. Are we sure it isn't a witch?

From the colouring of the plumage, I would have said a chicken or a wren. However, as it seems to be enjoying itself on the water (it is laughing after all), I'm going to say seagull.

Anas laysanensis

grrlscientist — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:59:42 +0000

Anas laysanensis

tags: Laysan Duck, Anas laysanensis, endangered species, birds, conservation, Image of the Day

The critically endangered Laysan Duck, Anas laysanensis, has had a very successful 2007 breeding season, say US Wildlife Biologists. Population numbers have quadrupled since 42 individuals were moved across the Pacific and released at the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the US in 2004.

Image: JH Breedan, Rare Birds Yearbook [larger size].

grrlscientist Wed, 01/23/2008 - 08:59