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Yesterday I posted a short series of photos of a male Varied Thrush Ixoreus naevius I took in Vancouver’s Stanley Park two days ago. Whilst the Varied Thrush was the “bird of the day” the bird that’s caused me the most head-scratching is the Mallard Anas platyrynchos in the photos below. When I first noticed [...]

During my most recent trip to California, I had a chance to drop in on Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area in Los Angeles. The waterfowl there were mighty tame, with wild ducks, geese, and cormorants practically posing for portraits. But the bird that really captured my eye was not purebred but rather poultry.

This fine fellow [...]

Hybrids. Scary chimera between unrelated species, or slightly odd-looking crosses of what are in effect close relatives? Well, in biology there are two distinct meanings of the word ‘hybrid’: the first is “the result of interbreeding between two animals or plants of different species”, and the second is “crosses between populations, breeds or cultivars within [...]

(This page is updated regularly: last update - images and new identifications added - December 2009)
I spend a fair bit of time surfing and flicking through various Bird Fora/Forums, and it’s striking how many queries there are from birders all over the world who’ve been completely stumped by finding an odd duck on their local [...]

I spent my lunch break in Congress Park again today and has the duckling situation changed! I have no idea where all of the Mallards hid their nests but ducklings were everywhere! Some were feeding in the grass, turning their little heads sideways to pull seeds off of plants:

And some were stretching their [...]

Three broods, one of 11, one of 9, and one of 3, all in Congress Park in Saratoga Springs. I was wondering where all the female ducks had went…

The oddball duckling was with what looked like a pure female Mallard, and all the other ducklings looked like normal Mallards. Was some egg dumping going [...]

Mallards, though common, are often overlooked. Many birders consider them a “trash” bird, that is, one that is so common that they are hardly worth taking the time to study or appreciate. This is unfortunate, as the gaudy green of the male Mallard is certainly worth looking at and is matched in its [...]

Take a look at this bird:

Now look at this one:

And finally, this one:

Which of these birds, if any, are Mallards? Answers will be forthcoming, but for now, I can tell you that they are all members of the mallard complex, a roster of about 20 closely-related Anas-species ducks around the world.
Everyone knows what a male [...]

Once our ceremonial duties at Jay and April’s wedding were concluded, it was time to move south to visit old friends in Orange County. We wished the happy couple the best of luck and took off. But first, we had to go back to Sepulveda Basin! We saw all of the birds [...]