Duck Identification Question

[Rob O'Connell]

Sorry for the multitude of posts that I attempted to post. Apparently it did not like me pasting graphics in the file. It kept telling me that it was not submitted and to try again later. So I did a few minutes apart and it kept saying it wasn't posting. Imagine my horror when I saw a slew of jibberish... Trying again, this time trimming it down and trying it from a different browser. 

Anyway. I have a duck that I would like assistance identifying. 

I spotted it at Lake Josephine around August 30th or so. I had not had as much chance to dig through the photos so I am sorry I am getting to it so late. 

Unidentified Flying (Duck) Object

I have checked all my guides and nothing seems to completely fit. I am not very good with the age differences in duck plumages and also the seasonal changes. 

I also checked Duck Plumage Site as well as googled all the usual cast of characters to see if I could spot a similar bird. I did not. 

Any help would be appreciated. 

Thanks, and again, sorry for the mishap. 

[Rob O'Connell]

Thank you Louis. I had kind of narrowed it down to 3 of which that was the leading contender although most of the underwing shots of the BWTE I have seen do not show as dark of a stripe on the leading edge of the wing so I was not sure if that was it or not. 

It must have been more shadow that actual color on there. 

Thanks again!

On Monday, September 29, 2014 3:50:55 PM UTC-4, Louis Bevier wrote:

A relatively small list of ducks in the world have blue or blue-gray forewings. There are Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teals, Garganey, and four species of shovelers. Given only two species of those are likely on Lake Josephine, I think we’ve got a good chance at identifying this bird. You were at the right web site for help—Sam Carney’s duck identification by wing plumage is a classic. Take a look at this page showing the upper wings of the Blue-winged and Cinnamon Teals: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/duckplum/bwciteal.htm
Taking into account the small bill and gray face pattern, your bird fits Blue-winged Teal. Even when they are not at their fanciest, males of both Cinnamon and Blue-winged can be told by a prominent white bar behind the bluish forewing. So your bird is a female. The pattern of the body feathers with neat and entire fringes around all dark feathers (look at those bigger oval feathers to the rear of the wing on the hind flank) together with the wing pattern suggest it is an immature. So that’s my guess, immature female Blue-winged Teal.

Louis Bevier
Fairfield

[Don Lima]

Rob,

Yeah, definitely a blue wing.  That dark at the "wrist", along with the other traits, is a way we usually help narrow the bird down to "teal" sp.  The bird in your photo shows a healthy band of dark.  Nice shot. 

Don

Sent from my iPad

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[Rob O'Connell]

Thanks Don. Good to know about that color being a good indicator. 

As for the shot. I took it with my "point and shoot and pray and develop and hope and sigh with relief when one actually comes out OK"  camera. :-)

I was happy with it though as it was clearly a different bird than any of the rest I had seen that day and it was cruising by so fast I was lucky to have gotten 3 shots off, 2 of which were completely out of focus. The third and final one was this one.