21.2.13

Hybrid Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser

On Feb 21st morning I spotted a puzzling male duck mixed in with Common and Red-breasted Mergansers and Common Goldeneyes just north of Port Huron, MI. The bird had very striking pied plumage with characters reminiscent of both Common Goldeneye (without the eye spot) and Hooded Merganser (without the salmon tones). Bill and head shape were intermediate between these two species. I checked on line for images of hybrids of these two species and the bird was a dead ringer for on line images of what are presumed to be hybrids of COGO and HOME. The bird was swimming just south of the main viewpoint and parking area at Fort Gratiot County Park a few miles north of Port Huron, MI. It was still present when I left at 10:30 am. I managed to secure a few images that show the overall appearance of the bird.




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