Mexican Duck?, Adams County

[Tom Wilberding]

Hello birders,

I would like to get a Mexican Duck sighting under my belt, a new lifer if the AOU ever splits it from Northern Mallard. I noticed a dark Mallard on the shore of the South Platte River in Denver yesterday afternoon, from the South Platte River Trail east of York Street. (Industrial birding.) It had a yellow bill, dark feathers, and bright orange feet. I did not get a good view of the tail feathers, but what little I could see was dark but a bit curly. After studying and hoping, I read this in Sibley’s: “Virtually no pure Mexican Mallards occur in North America.” Shoot. I hope Brandon had better luck.

Here’s a one minute slide show of some birds on the river yesterday. http://bit.ly/10KPXfr  
A map, too: http://goo.gl/maps/1wzl4 

Cheers,
Tom Wilberding
Boulder, CO