Hybrid Canvasback x Redhead

 

On 19 January 2003, Kevin McLaughlin and I saw this hybrid Canvasback x Redhead on Lake Ontario at Burlington near Hamilton, Ontario. Scroll down for three photos of the hybrid and one Common Pochard in Japan by Angus Wilson for comparison.

 

Male Canvasback (back) with hybrid Canvasback x Redhead. Burlington on 19 January 2003.

 

Note bill shape, marks on bill, eye colour and head shape. Burlington on 19 January 2003.

 

I sent the photos to Michel Gosselin of the Canadian Museum of Nature for an opinion. Michel said "As you know, this hybrid resembles the Pochard (Aythya ferina) of Eurasia. However, the present bird differs from the Pochard by its bloched bill, larger size, lighter eye, and perhaps darker plumage." Burlington on 19 January 2003.